
Class 

Book 

Copyright N°. 



CfiPXRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



THE PROPHECIES OF 
DANIEL 



BY 

A. L. KIP 



Ghe fmfcfeerbocfeer press 

NEW YORK 
1919 






Copyright, 1919 

BY 

A. L. KIP 



DEC 27 1319 



3WA559404 






CONTENTS 

Introduction ..... 

The Church Led Captive by Rationalism 

Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 

A Fictitious God .... 

The Humbling of the Pride of Self 
Intelligence ..... 

The Profanation of Holy Things 



The Deification of Humanity in the Church 109 



False SvrTEMs of Intellectual Doctrine 

Conflicting Systems of Ethics . 

The Desolation of the Church by Self 
Intelligence and Self -Exaltation 

The Divine Humanity 

Dissensions in the Church 

The End of the Christian Church . 

Conclusion ....... 



PAGB 
I 

18 

43 

68 

78 
92 



121 
140 

158 
175 
185 
212 
225 



The Prophecies of Daniel 



INTRODUCTION 

THE aim of the present volume is to interpret 
the central spiritual meaning of the book 
of Daniel, viewed in the perspective of the signifi- 
cance of the Word as a whole. 

In the writer's opinion the evidence is over- 
whelmingly in favor of the view that the book of 
Daniel was not written in the time of that prophet, 
but was composed by some unknown author from 
traditional materials about the year 166 B.C., 
during the persecutions of the Jews under Anti- 
ochus Epiphanes, king of Syria ; and if this view is 
correct, then most of the prophecies of Daniel 
are nothing more than history put into a prophetic 
form. 1 Whether. or not such an opinion in regard 
to the date of the book of Daniel is accepted, the 
main historical events to which these prophecies 
refer are generally agreed upon by modern critics; 

1 For literature on this subject, see Driver, Daniel, pp. xlvii.- 
lxxvi.; Porter, Messages of the Apocalyptic Writers, pp. 97-108; 
Sayce, Higher Criticism and the Monuments, pp. 524-537. 

1 



2 The Prophecies of Daniel 

and consequently the spiritual interpretation of 
Daniel is not much affected by the questions of 
origin and authorship, nor by the several historical 
inaccuracies which the book reveals, for the Bible 
in its essence is a record of the spiritual psychology 
of the race, and the historical or unhistorical 
events described in it serve primarily as a basis 
for the symbolic expression of the glorious spiri- 
tual truths contained in its inner meaning. 

The book of Daniel bears considerable resem- 
blance to the Apocalypse by reason of the abun- 
dant use of symbolism in both books; but the 
symbolism of Daniel is really history under a thin 
disguise, whereas the symbolism of the Apocalypse 
is pure symbolic representations in regard to the 
church, many of which still look to the future for 
their fulfillment. There is a certain connection 
between the two books; for the Apocalypse is 
descriptive of the formation and growth of the 
New Church, while Daniel describes the con- 
summation and judgment of the present Christian 
Church, and the consequent beginning of the New 
Church. 

The reference by the Lord as a sign of His 
second coming to the appearance in the holy 
place of the "abomination of desolation, spoken 
of by Daniel the prophet," 1 which abomination 
is the central theme of the whole book of Daniel, 
seems to project the prophecies of Daniel for their 
fulfillment to the time of the Lord's second coming 

1 Matthew xxiv., 15. 



Introduction 3 

and the end of the present religious age; a view 
which is corroborated by Swedenborg when he 
says that the book of Daniel signifies "everything 
prophetic concerning the Lord's coming and the 
last state of the Church." 1 Moreover, the time 
and times and half a time, and the three and one- 
half years of Daniel are the same periods that 
are mentioned in the eleventh, twelfth, and thir- 
teenth chapters of the Apocalypse; and the 
leopard,' the bear, the lion, and the mouth speak- 
ing great things which are treated of in Daniel 
are very similar to the beast out of the sea de- 
scribed in the Apocalypse, with the form of a 
leopard, the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a 
lion, to which was given a mouth speaking great 
things. Indeed, the early Christian Church saw 
in the characteristics of Antiochus Epiphanes 
the prototype of the antichrist who was to arise 
before the Lord's second coming. 2 These close 
resemblances can scarcely be accidental, but 
must point to similar times and conditions. But 
if the prophecies of Daniel are nothing but his- 
tory, and ancient history at that, how can they 
apply to a time that is still in the future? A par- 
tial answer to this query is that a portion of these 
prophecies are real prophecies, even if the book 
was written in the year 166 B.C. ; and although the 
death of Antiochus Epiphanes in 164 B.C. seems 
a remarkable literal fulfillment of some passages, 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 3652. 

3 1 John ii., 18; II Thessaloniansii., 1-12. 



4 The Prophecies of Daniel 

yet the predictions of the reign of righteousness 
and the everlasting dominion of the saints, which 
are pictured as beginning immediately after the 
downfall of that monarch, have never yet been 
realized, and consequently these and similar 
prophecies still require a future date for their 
actualization. But there is another and a much 
more complete explanation. The entire historical 
period embraced in the book of Daniel is from the 
accession of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylonia, 
in 604 B.C., to the death of Antiochus Epiphanes 
in 164 B.C., a period of 440 years, and all the 
historical allusions and symbolic prophecies of 
Daniel properly fall within this time ; nevertheless 
the ancient events alluded to and partly predicted 
by the author of Daniel portray the details in 
regard to the end of the present Christian Church, 
because they describe old phases of feeling and 
thought, which will revive and reappear in the 
world of to-day, and by their strenuous evil and 
falsity devastate and consummate the Christian 
Church, for the world is now paralleling in its 
upward course the same general phase of life that 
occurred in a more intellectual form from about 
600 B.C. to 50 B.C., 1 a period so largely comprised 
in the history of the book of Daniel ; and moreover 
because the time of the partial end of the Christian 
Church and the beginning of interest in the New 
Church on a large scale is to be placed at the 

1 Kip, Phases of the Church Universal, pp. 55, 56, no; Psycho* 
logy of the Nations, pp. 230, 231. 



Introduction 5 

termination of the present stage of the world's 
religious progress, the approximate date for which 
is suggested as 2150 a.d. 1 

There is a marked distinction, as regards spiri- 
tual interpretation, to be drawn between the 
historical and the prophetical parts of the Bible. 
For the historical parts of the Bible describe the 
religious states of mind through which the human 
race passed in ancient times during its downward 
evolution, and through which it must again pass 
in the course of its upward progression; but the 
race of the future is going again through these 
ancient states of Biblical history only in a general 
way and with good as a more active and leading 
force than truth, which seems to have led in the 
more intellectual states that characterized anti- 
quity, and consequently some of the particulars 
recorded in the historical portions of the Bible will 
not be reenacted exactly as they were before in the 
recurring religious consciousness of mankind. On 
the contrary, however, the prophetical books of the 
Bible, in their internal sense, seem to be destined 
to be fulfilled in every least particular in the 
future development of the church, even where 
they seem purely historical in their contents. 
This distinction in interpretation perhaps accounts 
for the condensed form which marks many of the 
Old Testament prophecies and which suggests 
that when originally uttered they may have pos- 
sessed greater amplitude of form and definiteness 

1 Kip, Phases of the Church Universal, pp. 114-116. 



6 The Prophecies of Daniel 

of reference. While these prophecies were based 
on historical events that occurred at the time of 
their composition, and while many of the prophe- 
cies, especially those relating to the Babylonian 
captivity, had a literal fulfillment in a general 
way in subsequent Jewish history, the appearance 
of these predictions in their present form in the 
prophetical books of the Word seems to be mainly 
in consequence of their applicability to the future 
states of the church, when they would be spiri- 
tually fulfilled in every particular. While much 
of the book of Daniel is really history under a 
prophetic form, it should perhaps be classed as a 
prophetic book, and therefore its particulars are 
destined to be fulfilled at the time when the race 
reenters the religious states of mind current in the 
ancient eras with which the book deals. More- 
over, with the exception of a few chapters in the 
early part of Isaiah and a few passages elsewhere 
in the prophets, which seem to refer directly to 
the Lord's first coming, nearly the whole of the 
prophetic Word treats of the Lord's second com- 
ing, and will have its fulfillment at that time. 1 
But this statement does not mean that these 
prophecies of a Messianic age were fulfilled at the 

x The book of Malachi especially seems to refer to the Lord's 
first coming, and parts of the other prophetic books of the Old 
Testament seem to have a double application, applying both to 
the Lord's first and to His second coming; but in nearly all 
these cases of double reference the application of such prophecies 
to the second coming is more complete and definite than their 
application to the first advent. 



Introduction 7 

period of the world's history when Swedenborg's 
writings were given to the world, although these 
writings constitute in a large measure the Lord's 
second coming. The New Church came before 
its time, x and the present receivers of New Church 
doctrine are living in advance of the rest of the 
world, and the time of the Lord's second coming, 
so far as it applies to the fulfillment of prophecy, 
is the time when the race as a whole is able and 
willing to receive Him in his new revelation of 
divine truth. This time is still two or three cen- 
turies distant ; and until then the great mass of Old 
Testament prophecy, in its central and primary 
significance, must be regarded as unfulfilled. Al- 
though the great mass of Old Testament prophecy 
refers to the time of the acceptance of the Lord's 
second coming by the church as a whole, and fore- 
tells the events immediately preceding or follow- 
ing that time, still there is a small portion of such 
prophecy that describes the events which more or 
less distantly lead up to this general acceptance; 
for the end of the Christian Church, which must 
precede the reception of the Lord in His new reve- 
lation, is a thing of gradual accomplishment, and 
will be spread over a long period. The book of 
Daniel depicts both the beginning and the continu- 
ation of this gradual ending of the Christian Church ; 
and as the end of the Christian Church has begun 
in our day, this book is destined to have an earlier 

1 Apocalypse Revealed, 4. 



8 The Prophecies of Daniel 

fulfillment of many of its prophecies than several of 
the other prophetical books of the Word. 

It has been customary to think in New Church 
circles that the Christian Church came to an end 
in Swedenborg's day. It is true that it did then 
come to an end so far as its being the central and 
mOvSt vital religious dispensation on earth is con- 
cerned, but it did not come to an end so far 
as regards its career as a church. Swedenborg's 
statement that the Christian Church of his day 
was so devastated as to be devoid of any love or 
genuine truth 1 is not true of the Christian Church 
at present, -which abounds in good works of love 
and charity, and possesses many helpful truths 
explanatory of the literal sense of the Bible. It 
is evident that, as was predicted would be the 
case, 2 the Christian Church by reason of the new 
revelation of Divine truth through Swedenborg 
has been enabled to "revive and draw breath 
through heaven from the Lord," and so live out 
the full period of its allotted existence as a church. 
Its real end, however, has now begun; and it is 
the phases of religious thought and feeling that 
will accompany its consummation that are de- 
picted in the internal sense of Daniel. The wars 
and rumors of wars which it was foretold would 
precede the consummation of the age of the Chris- 
tian Church are like the frequent doctrinal con- 
troversies and conflicting clash of ideas between 

1 True Christian Religion, 758; Brief Exposition, 77. 

2 Marriage Love, 532. 



Introduction 9 

the reactionary and the progressive elements in 
the Christian Church of to-day, the pestilences 
which were foreshadowed are like the skeptical 
questionings and infectious falsities which are now 
beginning to permeate that church, the earthquakes 
in divers places which were predicted are like the 
great present and prospective changes in Christian 
theology and point of view, and the precursory 
famines are like the present dearth of satisfying 
inward truth in the Christian Church owing to 
excessive critical discussion of the Bible; but all 
these things are only the beginning of travail, * the 
first premonitory symptoms of the vast upheaval 
which is still to come, when the essential, vital 
spiritual truths of the Bible will be attacked and 
despised, when the Christian Church will be torn 
and rent by conflicting opinions until it becomes 
unable to perceive any longer what is the truth, 
and when even the literal sense of the Word will 
be so wrested and distorted by powerful naturalis- 
tic thought into confirming strange doctrines that 
the Christian Church will be faint with perplexity 
and fear for the roaring of the sea and the billows, 
and the expectation of the things which are coming 
upon the world. ' 

The great war between the Teutonic Empires 
and France, Russia, England, and Italy shows 
plainly, when spiritually interpreted, that the old 
materialistic ideas and doctrines of the Christian 
Church have ceased to rule, and that new religious 

1 Matthew xxiv., 6-8; Mark xiii., 7, 8; Luke xxi., 9. 



io The Prophecies of Daniel 

theories and ideals are taking their place in the 
minds of the race; but as this subject has been 
treated of at length in the article, "The Spiritual 
Significance of the Great War, ' ' in the book, The Seven 
Types of Humanity, it need not be discussed here. 
There are two general periods of religious life 
which lie before the Christian Church between the 
present time and its final consummation. The 
first period, consisting of perhaps two centuries, 
will be a time in which the vital spiritual truths 
of the Bible will be denied and rejected, although 
the church will retain some goodness of life and 
good works in spite of the falsities of doctrine 
rife within it ; but the second period, the beginning 
of which will coincide with the beginning of a 
widespread interest in the New Church, will be 
a time in the Christian Church when evil will 
take the place of all the remaining good life, when 
their religion will consist merely of outward wor- 
ship bereft of any inward goodness, and when, 
having already been devastated of all spiritual 
truth, the whole Christian Church will come to a 
complete end. This complete end of the Christian 
Church will take place at the completion of this 
second period, and at the time of the opening of 
the distinctly- spiritual degree in the mind of the 
race as a whole. Such consummation of the 
Christian Church is fully described in the four- 
teenth chapter of the Apocalypse by the reaping 
of the harvest and the vine. 1 

1 Apocalypse Revealed, 643, 646, 650. 



Introduction n 

One of the chief signs of the end of the Christian 
Church is to be the encompassing of Jerusalem 
by armies. 1 A city signifies doctrine, and Jeru- 
salem as the central city of Palestine signifies speci- 
fically the central doctrine of the Lord's divinity. 2 
Therefore a general attack upon this doctrine is 
to be a sign of the beginning of the end of the 
Christian Church; for when the fundamental 
doctrine of the Lord's divinity is denied, the 
Christian Church ceases to be Christian, and 
becomes pagan. The great prevalence of the 
denial of the virgin birth, which is in effect a 
denial of the Lord's divinity, in the Christian 
Church of the present day shows clearly that such 
a condition is at hand, and that the doctrine of 
the Lord's divinity is being attacked on all sides 
by the armies of hostile arguments. The besieg- 
ing and the taking of Jerusalem from the Turks 
in 191 7 by the armies of the British and their 
allies seems to be a literal fulfillment of the above- 
mentioned Biblical prophecy, and is no doubt 
an outward symbol of the present religious state 
of mind in the Christian Church where the doc- 
trine of the Lord's divinity is being torn away from 
the domain of blind faith, which blind faith is 
represented by Turkey; and because the faith 
of the new era which the Allies represent and up- 
hold is a faith based on rational understanding, 
and not on blind belief, the Lord's divinity is 

1 Luke xxi., 20. 

2 Apocalypse Revealed, 862, 880. 



i2 The Prophecies of Daniel 

rejected by the younger element of the Christian 
Church because it is not understood by them in 
any enlightened faith how the Lord can be divine. 
The capture of Jerusalem by the Allies from the 
Turks in December, 191 7, therefore affords an exact 
time from which to date the beginning of the end 
of the Christian Church. 

These pages, however, are not meant as words 
of condemnation for the Christian- Church, but 
as messages of hope. After the period of tribula- 
tion and distress predicted in this book as lying 
in the immediate future pathway of the Christian 
Church, the Son of Man will come to them in the 
power and glory of a new spiritual dispensation, 
even as He has foretold He would do; indeed, He 
has told them to regard these very troubles as a 
hopeful sign that their redemption draws near. 1 
Though the Christian Church may pass away, the 
Lord's church still lives on earth. The New 
Church, His new and lasting structure among 
men, is beckoning from its higher place to all who 
will forsake the old and lower, and cleave to the 
new and higher. It will probably be two or three 
centuries yet before the psychological moment 
arrives when Christendom as a whole will be ready 
to receive the Lord's new message to His followers; 
and for them to embrace these teachings now 
requires that they should advance just that far 
ahead of the world in general. But whether men 
come sooner or come later, its mansions are pre- 

1 Luke xxi., 28. 



Introduction 13 

pared, its gates are open; and however uncertainty 
and warring creeds and vanishing faith may afflict 
and distract Christians in the decay and dissolution 
of their great church, the Lord's New Church will 
stand untarnished and undismayed on the Rock 
of its foundation, and will surely gather its chil- 
dren under its wings at the appointed day. 

The predictions of the Babylonian captivity 
and the prophecies of the Messianic age as begin- 
ning immediately after the liberation of the Jews 
from this captivity occupy a large portion of the 
prophetical books of the Bible. The predictions 
of the Babylonian captivity had a literal fulfill- 
ment in the fact of the captivity itself, and are 
therefore interpretable as literally fulfilled pro- 
phecy 1 ; whereas the prophecies relative to the 
release of the Jews from this captivity, and their 
consequent restoration to power in an ideal Mes- 
sianic age, have never been literally realized in 
their details, and can never be literally fulfilled, 
and it therefore seems to be generally true that 
such prophecies yet await their complete fulfill- 
ment in the future spiritual development of the 
church, and that consequently they are to be 
interpreted as still predictive of future religious 
phases, and not as accomplished history. If there 
is any truth or divinity in the Word, all its prophe- 

1 Yet, as the perverse states of mind which caused and which 
were represented by the Babylonian captivity, will again pre- 
dominate in the Christian Church of the future, even these 
prophecies of impending captivity have still a future, unfulfilled 
application to the Church. 



14 The Prophecies of Daniel 

cies must be fulfilled either naturally or spiritually; 
for it is written : 

"My word shall not return unto Me void, but 
it shall accomplish that which I please." 

"Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or 
one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, 
till all things be accomplished.' * 

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My 
words shall not pass away." 

"These are days of vengeance, that all things 
which are written may be fulfilled." 

The Babylonian captivity plays a very impor- 
tant part in the book of Daniel ; for not only was 
Daniel one of the first to be carried away to 
Babylon, where he spent the remainder of his 
life, but the author of Daniel endeavors to de- 
monstrate that the period of seventy years, which 
was predicted by Jeremiah as the time of the 
duration of the Babylonian captivity, 1 was really 
a period of weeks of years, or seven times seventy 
years, and he estimates the expiration of this 
period as falling in the year 164 B.C. Although 
the Jews were freed by Cyrus from the captivity 
at Babylon, nevertheless neither they, nor the 
religious mind of the race which they represent, 
were released by that outward act from the evil 
state of mind which caused such captivity 2 ; and 
the church as a whole will not be fully delivered 
from this perverse spiritual condition, which still 

1 Jeremiah xxv., 11; xxix., 10. 

2 Jeremiah vi., 19; xxiii., 1-35; Hosea xi., 5, 6. 



Introduction 15 

remains by heredity, until it again becomes pro- 
minent in the consciousness of humanity, and men 
perceive its wickedness and remove it for good 
from their minds and lives. Hence many pas- 
sages in the Bible in regard to the bringing back 
of the captivity of Israel are applicable to the 
elucidation of the prophecies of Daniel. 

The obscure history and veiled symbolism of 
Daniel render it one of the most difficult of the 
Biblical books to interpret spiritually; but it is 
well worth the pains, for, as was stated above, 
the book portrays ancient aspects of religious 
thought and feeling which the world is now on the 
very eve of experiencing again, though in a more 
emotional way than was the case in antiquity. 
Hence the book is of great, immediate interest 
at the present time. 

It seems likely that the recurrence of these 
ancient forms of religious life will be accomplished 
through the awakening of the religious remains 
in the mind of the race, transmitted from genera- 
tion to generation from ancient times; and such 
awakening will probably be effected through 
strong influx from the spirits of the ancient peoples 
of the period under consideration who are now 
living in the other world, although it is possible 
that many other spiritual . and natural influences 
may contribute toward this end. 

In a striking passage in Ezekiel we read of a 
multitude of dry bones which at the prophet's 
commands took on the form of humanity, and 



16 The Prophecies of Daniel 

became alive again. 1 The dry bones are like 
the bare facts of ancient history, and the sinews 
and flesh and skin which came upon them at the 
first command of the prophet are like the round- 
ing out of these bare facts of ancient life by an 
intelligent and comprehensive representation of ac- 
companying conditions. But they were still inani- 
mate bodies, devoid of the breath of life, because 
no matter how truly and sympathetically their 
states of mind may be depicted, the people belong 
to a dead past, and not a living present. But 
when the prophet prophesied to the wind, the 
breath of life came into them, and they lived, and 
stood up upon their feet, an exceedingly great 
army. So, when the dry facts of ancient life, 
evoked in these pages into real but inanimate 
flesh by a portrayal of ancient psychology, are 
prophesied to be about to reappear in the religious 
life of the immediate future, the vital breath 
again enters the risen bodies, and they become 
alive once more. 

As the history of the ancient phases of thought 
and feeling which are made the basis of predicting 
future phases is often vague and incomplete, it 
is scarcely possible that the writer should succeed 
in foretelling the psychology of the church for 
two or three centuries with absolute accuracy of 
detail; but it is expected that the forecast will 
be sufficiently exact to enable others to recognize 
the predicted phases when they arise. If the 

1 xxxvii., i- 1 4. 



Introduction 17 

question is asked, Why attempt to prophesy at 
all unless it can be done with complete precision? 
the reply must be made that the Lord has symbo- 
lically foretold these future things for the welfare 
of His Church, 1 and that His figurative lan- 
guage needs to be interpreted in order that the 
prophecies may be understood and be of service. 
Moreover, after the events have occurred almost 
any 'passage of the Bible may be twisted into an 
interpretation of them, and it is sometimes ex- 
tremely difficult to distinguish between the true and 
the false explanation; whereas if the occurrences 
are foretold with reasonable accuracy through a 
true interpretation of the prophecies of the Word, 
it will be evident that such interpretation is 
indeed the Lord's truth, revealed for the enlighten- 
ment of His followers. 2 Therefore, while in many 
particulars these pages may not pronounce the 
final word on the subject, and while some of the 
outlines may remain indistinct until the events 
themselves have given the necessary completeness, 
it is hoped that the present volume will prove to 
be an approximate approach to a clear and definite 
comprehension of the sublime Divine truths con- 
tained in these wonderful prophecies of Daniel. 

1 Isaiah xlii., 9; xlviii., 5; Matthew xxiv., 25; John xiii., 19. 

2 Deuteronomy xviii., 18-22; Amos iii., 7. 



THE CHURCH LED CAPTIVE BY 
RATIONALISM 1 

THE entire period from iooo B.C. to about 50 
B.C. paralleled the youthfulness of the 
human race, and was an era of natural emotional- 
ity and perceptivity. This period was divided 
into an emotional part and an intellectual part, 
the line of demarcation between the two occur- 
ring somewhere during the middle of the sixth 
century B.C. As the exact date of such dividing 
line is unknown, the year 538 B.C., when the 
Persian king, Cyrus, by his conquest of Babylon 
became monarch of the Orient, seems to be a con- 
venient date of division; for then began a new 
order of affairs under the Aryan leadership of the 
world, and the Semitic supremacy, which had 
lasted for so many centuries, passed away. 

The first part of this period of natural emotion- 
ality and perception was characterized by emotional 
feeling, by the perception of what is naturally 
good, and by the outward activity which springs 

Comprising Daniel i., 1-21. The Book of Daniel in the 
Revised Version of the Bible should be read in conjunction with 
the following pages, which are intended as a general, and not 
as a word-for-word explanation. 

18 



The Church Led Captive 19 

from strong feeling; whereas the second part 
was marked by emotional intellectuality, by the 
perception of what is naturally true, and by a 
tendency to verbal expression in which intellectual 
perception is wont to ultimate itself. But al- 
though this ancient era of nearly one thousand 
years is thus divided into two portions about the 
year 538 B.C., the period from 538 B.C. to about 
600 B.C.,, while strictly belonging to the first and 
more emotionally perceptive period, is neverthe- 
less closely connected with the second and more 
intellectually perceptive period from 538 B.C. to 
50 B.C.; for it was characterized by a similar 
remarkable development of the natural intellec- 
tual faculties of the mind. Thales, the father of 
ancient philosophy, was a contemporary of Nebu- 
chadnezzar, and the Milesian school of natural 
philosophy flourished during Daniel's lifetime. 

Through the guidance of the spiritual reason 
and spiritual rational perception, which were 
represented by David and Solomon, the youthful 
religious mind of the race had arranged and 
united all things of the church in their true spiri- 
tual order, all the while being under a deep and 
abiding sense of veneration toward God; for 
veneration is represented by the land of Palestine. x 
But this comprehensive ' union did not continue 
long, for presently a separation takes place between 
the good and the true element of the church, 
which was represented by the division between 

1 Kip, Psychology of the Nations, pp. 63-65. 



20 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the northern and southern kingdoms; and the 
separation of these two necessary and comple- 
mentary elements of the church ushered in a 
speedy religious decline. In 721 B.C., the natural 
reason asserts its ascendancy over the religion 
of the true church, for Samaria is taken captive 
by Assyria, representing the devastation of the 
spiritual truth of the church by mere reasoning; 
and now in 604 B.C., even the good life of the 
church, which is represented by Judah, is in a 
condition of religious and moral decay, and yields 
easily to the onslaught of perverse inferential 
rationality,' represented by Babylon under Nebu- 
chadnezzar. Finally in 586 B.C. Judah is carried 
captive to Babylon, and this captivity represents 
the devastation of the spiritual good of the church 
by self -intelligent inferential reasoning. 

Jehoiakim, king of Judah, who contemptuously 
burned the Divine warnings written by Jeremiah, 
and who is charged with covetousness, oppression, 
and violence, represents the corrupt ruling force 
in the religious mind of youth, which, through 
wayward turning away from the truth and the 
exaltation of self, has grown hard, covetous, 
contemptuous, and violent. 1 The Jews in these 
ancient times represented the true church, be- 
cause they alone possessed the Old Testament 
with its revelation of the true religion; and con- 
sequently it was in a state of the complete corrup- 

1 Jeremiah xxxvi., 22-24; xx ii-» 13—19; Apocalypse Explained, 
4814. 



The Church Led Captive 21 

tion of this sordid, wayward, self -exalting force 
in the true church that Nebuchadnezzar came 
to Jerusalem and besieged it. 

Although Nebuchadnezzar is called king of 
Babylon, which was his official title, he was really 
king of all Babylonia. By birth he seems to have 
been a Chaldean, and his empire seems to have 
been established by the Chaldeans, who inhabited 
the southern part of Babylonia, and who had 
attained supremacy over all B abylonia . The north- 
ern part of Babylonia corresponds to rational in- 
ference, and the southern part to a comparison 
of rational inferences with the known facts 1 ; and 
consequently Nebuchadnezzar as a Chaldean and 
as king of Babylonia stands for a forceful type 
of youthful rational inferentiality, which makes 
inferences that must be true if the statements 
they are deduced from are true, and then carefully 
compares such inferences with the known facts 
in order to ascertain whether the facts are corro- 
borative. As to the character of Nebuchadnezzar, 
he was, judging from his inscriptions, of a devout 
nature, and in Daniel he is represented as recogniz- 
ing the supremacy of the true God, and praising 
Him on recovery from his madness; but he is 
also referred to in the Bible as a devourer and 
destroyer of the true church, and as a ruthless 
conqueror in general. 2 Swedenborg explains Ne- 
buchadnezzar as meaning one who vastates 

1 Kip, Psychology of the Nations, pp. 57-59. 

2 Jeremiah li., 34; Hi., 12; Ezekiel xxvi., 7-12. 



22 The Prophecies of Daniel 

truth and good through the pride of self -intelli- 
gence and the love of ruling. 1 Hence we may 
consider Nebuchadnezzar as representing a devout 
but perverse form of inferential, comparative 
rationality, which, because of its desire to know 
and to reason about everything in the light of its 
own intelligence, creates sad havoc among the 
spiritual things of the true church. The wars 
and conquests of Nebuchadnezzar represent the 
powerful arguments of such a comparing rational- 
ism, and its overthrow of opposing ideas. 

The city of Babylon, whither Daniel and the 
Jews were carried captive, corresponds to the use 
of one's own rational mentality in the considera 
tion of a subject, and consequently to the doctrines 
constructed by one's own rational thinking. In 
a bad sense Babylon stands for a self-intelligent 
rationalism, which, through the love of ruling 
over the souls of men and making gain out of 
holy things, falsifies and profanes the holy 
truths of the Bible. 2 It is therefore the personi- 
fication of the exaltation of self and self - wisdom. 3 
The terrible destruction which captivity to such 
self -exalting wisdom wrought in man's spiritual 
nature and in his capacity to receive lofty spiritual 



1 Heavenly Arcana, 7519; Apocalypse Explained, 622 6 , 65443. 

2 Heavenly Arcana, 1295, 4748, 9960, 10,412; Last Judgment, 
54. The king of Babylon represents the rational man, A. E., 
557; and the Babylonish love of dominion springs from man's 
self-intelligence, H. A., 8941. 

3 Habakkuk i., 7. 



The Church Led Captive 23 

truth is abundantly described in the Lamentations 
of Jeremiah and the experiences of Jonah in the 
belly of the great fish. 

The land upon which Jerusalem is built seems 
to correspond to the veneration of God for His 
incomparable greatness and sole divinity; and 
as a city signifies doctrine, therefore the city of 
Jerusalem corresponds to the doctrine that Jeho- 
vah or the Lord is the only God. Swedenborg 
states that Jerusalem signifies the church as to 
doctrine, that it was the inmost of the land of 
Palestine, and that after the last judgment in the 
other world the name Jerusalem there means the 
doctrine of the church in which the Lord alone 
is worshiped. 1 As the whole of Palestine, of 
which Jerusalem constitutes a very small part, 
signifies the church, 2 and as cities signify doctrine, 3 
therefore it is evident that all the cities of Palestine 
signify the doctrines of the church; but Jeru- 
salem, which was the religious center of the whole 
land, must specifically signify the central and 
inmost doctrine of the church, which in the New 
Church is the doctrine of the Lord's divinity. 4 
This is also the central and fundamental doctrine 
of the Christian Church ; for upon Peter's acknowl- 
edgment of Him as "the Christ, the son of the 



1 New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, 6; Heavenly Arcana, 
4539; True Christian Religion, 841. 

2 Heavenly Arcana, 3923; Apocalypse Explained, 434 «. 

3 Heavenly Arcana, 402. 

* Apocalypse Explained, 32 8 6 . 



24 The Prophecies of Daniel 

living God," the Lord declared, "Upon this rock 
I will build My church." 1 

As a result of the combination of these spiritual 
significations, the first verse of Daniel "In the third 
year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came 
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon unto Jerusalem, 
and besieged it," means that, when the ruling in- 
fluence in the good life of the church had become 
utterly corrupt through false and evil ways, the 
regnant power of self -intelligent and self -exalting 
rationalism came against it, and brought its argu- 
ments to bear against the doctrine of the sole 
Divinity of 'the true God. In consequence of its 
sordid and self -centered state, such ruling religious 
influence was unable to meet these rationalistic 
arguments, but fell an easy prey to them; and the 
masterful spirit of rationalism carried away the rul- 
ing influence, together with many spiritual truths 
of the church, and brought them under the domin- 
ion of a paganistic and profane religion founded on 
inferential rationalism. The second verse means 
that the spiritual truths of the true church were 
stored up by the rationalizing spirit in its ration- 
alistic memory of religious things. 

Eunuchs, on account of their partial or complete 
loss of the generative organs, signify those who 
have no desire of communicating their own ideas 
to receptive minds, and thus conjoining themselves 
therewith. Hence eunuchs readily devote them- 
selves to propagating the ideas of others. In 

1 Matthew xvi., 15-18. 



The Church Led Captive 25 

consequence of this psychological effect of castra- 
tion, eunuchs were noted in ancient times for their 
fidelity and devotion to the interests of their 
masters, as well as their freedom from sexual 
passion. Swedenborg says that a spiritual eunuch 
is one who does not wish his understanding of 
truth and good to enter into lascivious conjunc- 
tion with the affection for evil and falsity. J There- 
fore Ashpenaz, the chief eunuch of Nebuchadnezzar, 
in whose sight God made Daniel to find kindness 
and compassion, stands for an important influ- 
ence in a rationalistic religion, which, although 
devoted to promulgating its master's views, has 
not obliterated its own rational understanding of 
the truth by union with an affection for falsity. 

The regnant spirit of rationalism, denoted by 
Nebuchadnezzar, desired to know and to explore 
the things of the true church; and it therefore 
commanded the chief expounder of its views, who 
although devoted to the master rationalism yet 
enjoyed a clear rational understanding of the 
truth, to gather and bring in for its consideration 
and service the most important and interesting 
of those members of the true church who pos- 
sessed keen perception, deep thoughtfulness, and 
exact knowledge of the spiritual things of their 
church; and to teach them both the facts and 
the methods of comparative rationality. More- 
over, the rationalistic master mind appointed for 
the mental nourishment of these representatives 

1 Apocalypse Explained, 710 28 . 



26 The Prophecies of Daniel 

of the true church the same continual regimen 
of rationalistic knowledge and teachings that 
formed its own mental pabulum, so that by a 
complete appropriation of such doctrines they 
might be made to serve the ruling spirit of ration- 
alism. Among these representative members of 
the true but corrupt church still remained the 
unperverted elements of genuine, heart-felt venera- 
tion of the true God in feeling, thought, knowledge, 
and expression. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and 
Azariah stand for these four aspects of the true 
religion. 

Daniel,- who was the leader of the Jews that 
were loyal to their faith, and who clung stead- 
fastly to his religion in spite of persecution and 
affliction, signifies the emotional and perceptive 
element of the true church, or those who receive 
the true religion in feeling and perception. His 
name means "God is my judge," and signifies a 
belief in God as the supreme judge and ruler of all. 
To express his rational quality Daniel's name 
was changed to Belteshazzar, which is probably 
a contracted form for "Bel, protect his life." 
In the Babylonian theology Bel was the lord of 
the earth and air; and as the gods of Babylonia 
probably represent the rational attributes of God, 
or God as viewed from a rational standpoint, 
therefore Bel seems to represent the Divine sphere 
of rationality in the spiritual-natural plane of 
life. Hence the name, "Bel, protect his life," 
is a supplication that the Divine rational influ- 



The Church Led Captive 27 

ence on the spiritual-natural plane of life may 
preserve the rational religious feeling and percep- 
tion, for these are the life. The name of Hananiah, 
who represents the true religion in thought, means 
"Jehovah has been gracious," and it signifies the 
graciousness of the true God to those who are in 
thoughtful states; for the sense of grace is experi- 
enced in intellectual states of mind. I Hananiah's 
name was changed to Shadrach, which probably 
means "the word or decree of the moon-god." 
As the moon-god Sin was called the Lord of Wis- 
dom and the Giver of Light, this name seems to 
signify that its bearer trusts in the enlightenment 
of the Divine rational wisdom. The name of 
Mishael, who represents the true religion in knowl- 
edge, means "who is what God is"; and it 
signifies the incomparable glory of the Divine 
truth of the true religion. Mishael's name was 
converted into Meshach, which probably means 
"who is what the moon-god is," and signifies the 
unapproachable greatness of rational truth. The 
name of Azariah, who represents the true religion 
in expression whether of words or actions, means 
"Jehovah has helped"; and it signifies here a 
belief in the need of Jehovah's aid to speak and 
to act rightly. Azariah' s name was turned into 
Abed-nego, which means a servant of Nebo. In 
the Babylonian pantheon, Nebo was the inter- 
preter and messenger of Marduk, entrusted with 
carrying out his commands. Nebo presided over 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 598, 2412. 



28 The Prophecies of Daniel 

literature and science, and the art of writing was 
ascribed to him. He was entitled "the scribe," 
"the opener of the ear," and the "god of revela- 
tion." The appropriateness of such a deity as 
the tutelary name of one who represents the true 
religion in expression is evident ; for as "the scribe," 
"the opener of the ear," and "the god of revela- 
tion," Nebo represents the power of rational 
verbal expression, while as the messenger of the 
chief god of Babylon, charged with carrying out 
his dictates, he represents the power of rational 
activity. Therefore the name Abed-nego signi- 
fies a follower of the god of rational expression 
and action. 

The change of Jewish to Babylonian names 
signifies that the outward quality of the repre- 
sentatives of the true church was changed by 
their dwelling under the direct and powerful 
influence of rational inference, so that their 
mental processes took on a more rational turn 
than was the case before these Jews were brought 
to Babylon. The new names were given by the 
chief eunuch ; and this fact signifies that the change 
in quality was accomplished through the instru- 
mentality of a spirit of rational understanding 
which although under the dominance of a perverse 
rationalism was not blinded as to the real truth 
by a wanton clinging to false doctrines. 

The spirit of acceptance of the true religion in 
feeling and perception, which is Daniel, was un- 
willing to defile itself by an appropriation of the 



The Church Led Captive 29 

rationalistic knowledge and teachings contained 
in the dogmas devised by a self-intelligent and 
self-exalting rationalism, and it therefore requested 
the highest of the unbiased rational minds that 
it might not be compelled to defile itself by the 
acceptance and appropriation of such doctrines; 
and the Divine influence operating upon such 
high, unbiased rationality rendered it kind and 
compassionate toward the emotional and percep- 
tive life of the true church. Yet this unbiased 
rationality feared the master spirit of perverse 
rationalism, who had appointed such rationalistic 
doctrinal knowledge for the nourishment of the 
disciples of the true church, and who might find 
them less attractive and less fitted to its purpose 
than others of similar abilities who had accepted 
such rationalistic teachings; and as a result the 
master mind might terminate the existence of 
such unbiased rationality in its domain. 

Then the emotional element receptive of the 
true religion requested of the steward-like instruc- 
tor, whom the high spirit of unbiased rationality 
had placed in charge of the representatives of the 
true church that they be given a full trial of being 
nourished by the simple, literal truths of the Bible 
alone, after which let their inward intelligence be 
compared with that of the others who had accepted 
and appropriated the doctrinal teachings of ration- 
alism. According to the result let him act. Their 
instructor hearkened to them and gave them a 
full trial; and at its expiration their inward 



30 The Prophecies of Daniel 

intelligence was fairer and their good activities 
more full of true enjoyment than was the case 
with all the other maturing minds who had appro- 
priated rationalistic teachings. So their instruc- 
tor took away the instruction in rationalistic 
knowledge and doctrines, and taught them instead 
the simple truths of the Bible. 

These four representative elements of the true 
religion were gifted by God with knowledge and 
skill in all spiritual learning and wisdom; and 
the emotional and perceptive element was wise 
in understanding the interior and hidden truths 
of revelation. At the completion of the period 
which the ruling spirit of rationalism had appointed 
for bringing before it the representatives of the 
true but corrupt church, the spirit of unbiased 
rationality brought them in for the consideration 
of the masterful rational mind; and upon com- 
muning with them all, it found none like the four 
representative elements of the true church which 
had not defiled themselves by the acceptance 
of rationalistic teachings. Therefore these were 
taken into the service of the ruling spirit of ration- 
alism. In everything of true wisdom and under- 
standing concerning which the master rationalistic 
mind consulted them, it found them far better 
than all the exponents of deep wisdom and occult- 
ism in the whole realm of the rational mind. 

This emotional and perceptive religious element, 
which was receptive of the true church, continued 
to exist in the religious youth of the race until 



The Church Led Captive 31 

the ideals of perceptive imagination began to 
exercise their sway over the world. 

Cyrus was king of Persia, which in ancient times 
included the southern portion of present Persia, 
and consequently corresponded to emotional and 
perceptive imagination. 1 Although of Persian 
descent, Cyrus before his conquests was a native 
king of Ansan, an important division of the prov- 
ince of Elam. Elam seems to correspond to the 
clear imaginative grasp of a subject that enables 
the mind to foresee all the elements necessary to 
produce a desired result. Hence in one aspect it 
corresponds to the formation of imaginative ideals, 
for an ideal implies the imaginative production 
of a standard of excellence that will meet all the 
requirements of human ideas of perfection. Elam 
or Susiana was an important province of the 
Persian empire, and Susa was the principal capital 
of Persia during the reign of Darius and his suc- 
cessors; and the possession of the faculty denoted 
by Elam is amply evidenced by the remarkable 
clearness of imaginative conception displayed by 
the great Persian kings in foreseeing and provid- 
ing for all the factors needful for the furtherance 
of their vast schemes of conquest. The domi- 
nance of the imagination in the world during the 
period of Persian ascendancy is attested by the 
fact that a great part of the literature of the time 
which purports to be sober and accurate history 
is little more than sheer fiction. 

1 Kip, Psychology of the Nations, pp. 51-53. 



32 The Prophecies of Daniel 

It was the imaginative ideals of what a religion 
and its adherents should be in order to realize 
their true mission and life that delivered the youth- 
ful religious mind of the race from the oppressive 
dominion of self -intelligent and self -exalting ra- 
tionalism, just as Cyrus, king of Persia, delivered 
the Jews from their captivity at Babylon. Con- 
sequently such imaginative ideals rendered great 
assistance to the true but corrupt church, by 
freeing it from the slough of rationalism, the sor- 
didness of making gain out of holy things, and 
the ambition of ruling over the souls of men, into 
which it had fallen ; and therefore Cyrus is called 
the shepherd and the anointed of Jehovah, whom 
He has called by name, and Jehovah's aid is 
promised in the extension of the sway of the ima- 
ginative ideals which Cyrus represents. 1 An in- 
stance of the formation of ideals during this period 
is afforded by Isaiah's pictures of the ideal Messiah, 
which were composed during the rise of Cyrus to 
sovereign power; and the lamentable extent to 
which the Jewish Church had fallen short of an 
ideal condition, and the direful consequences of its 
self -exaltation seem to be the main theme of the 
book of Jonah, which in all probability was written 
some time during the Persian or early Greek 
period. 

Hence Cyrus represents the ideal power of the 
imagination to rise above the fallacies of the senses 
and the allurements of self -intelligence. 

1 Isaiah xliv., 28; xlv., 1-7. 



The Church Led Captive 33 

Thus far the first chapter of Daniel has been 
interpreted with reference to past phases of the 
religious life of the race. How many of the details 
of the book of Daniel are real history it is impos- 
sible to say; but undoubtedly all the statements 
it contains, when spiritually interpreted, are true 
of the religious psychology of the race during a 
part of its youth, and they will assuredly again 
portray truly the religious psychology of the 
church when the states of its youth return in its 
manhood. This future bearing of Daniel will 
now be considered. 

Although during the present intellectual era, 
which will probably last from 1900 A.D. to 2150 
A.D., and which parallels the similar period from 
50 B.C. to 538 B.C., the Christian Church will be 
rent by doctrinal disputes, and desolated by the 
denial of the Lord's divinity and the rejection 
and perversion of other holy truths of the Bible, 
it is nevertheless likely to retain some spiritual 
life in its interiors. x Hence the Lord's message to 
His followers in the Christian Church of this 
period is that when they shall behold the predicted 
abominable state of affairs in their church when 
the doctrines devised by mere human mentality 
are put forward in the holy place of doctrines 
taught by the Word itself, then they should take 
refuge in interior states of good life, and not 
turn back to former merely intellectual states of 
mind, lest they accept the prevailing falsities of 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 4058. 
3 



34 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the times, to the destruction of their spiritual 
life and thought. Such is the meaning of the 
words : 

"When therefore ye see the abomination of 
desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel 
the prophet, standing in the holy place (let him 
that readeth understand), then let them that are 
in Judea flee unto the mountains; let him that 
is on the housetop not go down to take out the 
things that are in his house ; and let him that is 
in the field not return back to take his cloak." 1 

But when the present intellectual era is over, 
and the world again begins to experience the more 
emotional states of life that were current from 
538 B.C. to 1000 B.C., the spiritual life will depart 
even from the interiors of the Christian Church, 
and it will be given over to the rule of false, 
imaginative doctrines and to the sordid dominion 
of a self -exalting rationalism. The light and life 
of faith and charity will go out, and only the dead 
form of decaying doctrines will remain; and they 
who still rally to its cause will be those who love 
to ponder deeply over and confirm false and per- 
verted teachings from which the light of heaven 
has forever departed, — "Wheresoever the carcase 
is, there will the vultures be gathered together." 
In these last sad times of the Christian Church, 
which are partly described in Daniel by the Baby- 
lonian and Median empires, the Lord's message 

1 Matthew xxiv., 15-19; Heavenly Arcana, 2454, 3652-3655, 
3755- 



The Church Led Captive 35 

to His followers is no longer an exhortation to take 
refuge in interior states of goodness; but it is a 
command to leave their church for good, lest they 
too be engulfed in the ruin: 

"Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and save 
every man his life; be not cut off in her iniquity; 
for it is the time of Jehovah's vengeance." 

"My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and 
save yourselves every man from the fierce anger 
of Jehovah." 1 

It is to the beginning of this emotional era that 
the following words seem to apply: 

"Immediately after the tribulation of those 
days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon 
shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall 
from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall 
be shaken; and then shall appear the sign of 
the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the 
tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the 
Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with 
power and great glory. And he shall send forth 
his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and 
they shall gather together his elect from the four 
winds, from one. end of heaven to the other." 2 
These passages mean that immediately after the 
affliction of the Christian Church caused by the 
flood of falsities, heavenly love in the church will 
become darkened, faith will cease to enlighten, 

Jeremiah li., 6, 45; also, Isaiah xlviii., 20; Jeremiah 1., 8. 
2 Matthew xxiv., 29-31; see also, Isaiah xiii., 10-13 for 
similar predictions attending the downfall of Babylon. 



36 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the knowledges of spiritual truth and good will 
perish, and the very capacity for spiritual life and 
thought will be shaken to the foundations, through 
the falsification of the Bible. 1 This state in the 
Christian Church will be a signal for the Lord's 
spiritual manifestation, and will cause all those 
who are in good and truth to mourn their woeful 
plight. Then shall they see and receive the 
great and glorious new revelation of Divine 
truth constituting the New Church, which is 
founded upon the correspondential interpretation 
of the Bible; and the Lord, by means of an inflow 
into the church of a clear perception from the 
heavens and the preaching of New Church doc- 
trines on earth, will gather together all the good 
of every kind in the Christian Church for the 
establishment of His New Church. 2 

Jehoiakim and his Jewish subjects of the future 
will be the Christian Church of say 2150 A.D., 
which through the rule of sordid self-seeking and 
false ideas will have lost its sense of inward spiri- 
tual life, and have become a prey to self -intelligent 
rationalism and self -exaltation. As Daniel and 
his companions in the past represented the uncor- 
rupted elements of the church receptive of the 
true religion, so the Daniel of the future will be 
the uncorrupted members of the corrupt and 
devastated Christian Church to be who will 
receive the doctrines of the New Church, which 

1 Apocalypse Explained, 304c 47 , 741 26 . 

3 Swedenborg, Commentary on Matthew, pp, 352-364. 



The Church Led Captive 37 

will then be the only true religion in the world. 
But although Daniel and his companions represent 
the good members of the future Christian Church 
who will receive New Church doctrines, their 
reception of these doctrines will not be a complete 
acceptance of them as the truth revealed by the 
Lord Himself and constituting His second coming ; 
but they will receive them in a rationalistic spirit, 
subject to the reasonings of the rationalism of 
the natural mind; for Daniel and his fellow Jews 
spent most of their lifetime under the dominance 
of the rationalism denoted by Babylon and its 
kings, and even their Jewish names were changed 
into Babylonian names. 

If the recrudescence of the two distinct states 
of mind represented by the Babylonian and the 
Median empires occurs simultaneously in the 
future, for these two empires existed side by side 
and not successively as they are described in 
Daniel, then the Babylonian empire will represent 
the Roman Catholic Church, since Swedenborg 
frequently so applies it, and the Median empire 
will represent the Protestant Christian Church 
of the future. But if the psychological remains 
of these two ancient empires are to arise one 
after the other in future human consciousness, 
then the two distinct states of mind represented 
by them will characterize the whole Christian 
Church successively. Even if these remains 
awaken successively in the consciousness of the 
race, it is likely that the remains represented \y 



3 8 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the Median empire will be more predominant in 
the Protestant Church, and the remains repre- 
sented by the Babylonian empire will become more 
prevalent in the Roman Catholic Church. The 
Roman Catholic Church seems to represent the 
emotional side of the Christian Church, or its side 
as to good, as is shown by that Church's insistence 
on good works, and by its unity, for feeling unifies ; 
whereas the Protestant Church seems to represent 
the intellectual side of Christendom or its side as 
to truth, and this is evidenced by that Church's 
making faith, which is of the intellect, the chief 
thing of religion, and by its being split up into 
many denominations, for truth is many-sided and 
is separative in tendency. The Protestant Church 
therefore represents the Northern Kingdom of 
Samaria, which was the intellectual side of the 
Israelitish Church, while the Roman Catholic 
Church represents the Southern Kingdom of 
Judah, which was the emotional side of the Israel- 
itish Church; and as Samaria was first led captive 
by the perverse reasonings of the natural mind, 
represented by Assyria, while the captivity of 
Judah by the self -intelligent rationalism of Baby- 
lonia came later, so the Protestant Church in the 
intellectual part of the era that now lies before 
the world will probably like Samaria be the first 
to fall into false naturalistic reasonings; whereas 
in the later emotional part of the present era the 
Roman Catholic Church, which represents the 
kingdom of Judah, will come into the deeper evils 



The Church Led Captive 39 

of a self -intelligent and self -exalting rationalism 
that finally profanes all spiritual, and even literal, 
truth. In the future fulfillment of the prophetic 
books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, the prophets 
Jeremiah and Ezekiel will represent those in the 
Protestant and the Roman Catholic Church respec- 
tively who, when the Christian Church has fallen 
into the future Babylonian captivity of self -intelli- 
gence and self -exaltation, will teach the pure and 
unperverted truth of the literal sense of the Bible 
as opposed to the falsified truths and adulterated 
goods of that church, and who will predict the 
downfall of the Christian Church and warn against 
the deadly religious corruptions of the times. For 
the prophecies of Jeremiah seem to be especially 
applicable to the Protestant Church of the future, 
while those of Ezekiel, written in Babylonia itself, 
seem to be more appropriate to the future Roman 
Catholic Church. The entire prophecy concern- 
ing Babylon contained in the fiftieth and fifty-first 
chapters of Jeremiah will have its complete fulfill- 
ment when the Christian Church at the time of its 
partial end comes into the rationalistic self -intel- 
ligence which Babylon denotes, and when the men 
of the New Church, who are meant by the Medes 
or the nation from the north attacking Babylon, 
and who, in consequence of their reception of true 
doctrine in imaginative thought are able to rise 
above the allurements of self -intelligence, will re- 
fute and destroy the self-intelligent doctrines of 
the moribund Christian Church. The kingdoms 



40 The Prophecies of Daniel 

of Ararat, Minni, and Ashkenaz, which are like- 
wise mentioned there as summoned to destroy 
Babylon, are the true rational perceptions of the 
members of the New Church, which will sweep 
away this false self -intelligent rationalism. It is 
the downfall of this self -intelligent and self -exalt- 
ing spirit in the future Christian Church that is 
meant by the words, ''Fallen, fallen is Babylon 
the great." 1 

As was the case with the Jewish Church of old, 
so will the Christian Church of the future become 
the captive of rationalism ; and the self -intelligent 
and self -exalted leaders of the church to be, eager 
for religious dominion, and prolific in the produc- 
tion of doctrines framed by their own rationality 
and not derived from the Bible, are the Nebuchad- 
nezzars of the future. These leaders will attack 
the doctrine of the Lord's divinity just as Nebu- 
chadnezzar besieged Jerusalem, and they will 
carry away from their rightful application many 
literal truths of the Word as Nebuchadnezzar 
carried away the vessels of the house of God, and 
will pervert them to serve their own profane and 
adulterated religion. Under the dominion of these 
Babylonish church leaders and influenced by 
their rationalistic spirit will be the future receivers 
of the truths of the New Church denoted by Daniel 
and his companions. 

The rationalistic church leaders will attempt 
to make their own use of the intelligent elements 

1 Revelation xiv., 8. 



The Church Led Captive 41 

of the devastated Christian Church, including 
the receivers of the New Church, by having them 
instructed in the learning and methods of com- 
parative rationality, and also by appointing for 
their education a thorough course in the dogmas 
devised by their own self -intelligent rationalism; 
and this task they will endeavor to accomplish 
through those who, while devoted to the propaga- 
tion of the ruling rationalistic views, are never- 
theless unbiased in their sincere love of rational 
truth, who will be the Ashpenazes of the future. 
But the future receivers of the New Church will 
refuse to defile their religious views by accepting 
such false, rationalistic dogmas, which are "the 
king's dainties and the wine which he drank" 1 ; 
and by an appeal to the promulgators of these 
dogmas who are in an unprejudiced love of rational 
truth, and by a thorough test of studying the 
truths of the Bible itself and the New Church 
teachings which are drawn therefrom, they will 
prove that the doctrines of the New Church are 
productive of greater intelligence in understand- 
ing the Bible and of greater enjoyment in good 
living than all the self-devised dogmas of a ration- 
alistic and devastated church. The statement 
that the steward took away the youths' dainties 
and the wine that they should drink, and gave 
them vegetable food, may be a prediction that 
the instructors of the future Babylonish or Roman 

1 True Christian Religion, 810; Apocalypse Revealed, 721, 759, 
829. 



42 The Prophecies of Daniel 

Catholic Church will remove the ban against 
reading the literature of the New Church. 

As a result of their loyalty to the true religion, 
these future nascent Newchurchmen will receive 
from the Lord knowledge and skill in all spiritual 
learning and wisdom ; and those of them who ex- 
cel in perception will possess an understanding 
of the interior and hidden things of revelation. 
When the time appointed for their complete 
instruction is finished, the rationalistic leaders of 
the church will examine these intelligent, nascent 
elements of the Christian Church; and they who 
received and were faithful to New-Church teach- 
ings, and who kept themselves uncontaminated 
by Babylonish dogmas, will be found ten times 
wiser than all the representatives of self-wisdom 
and occultism contained in the whole realm of 
the rational mind. These rational receivers of 
the New Church, represented by Daniel, will 
arise in the Christian Church at the end of the 
present intellectual era, which parallels the ancient 
era beginning with Cyrus, and will continue in 
it during the future periods of the Christian 
Church denoted by the 3abylonian and Median 
empires. 



SPURIOUS DOCTRINES OF GOOD LIFE 1 

THE image which Nebuchadnezzar saw, and 
which was composed of various metals 
and clay, corresponds to the whole aggregate of 
spurious doctrines in regard to good life which 
are framed by the self -intelligence of man during 
the development of the emotional and perceptive 
degree of the natural mind. This is so for the 
following reasons. The kingdom of Babylon 
which formed the head of the image corresponds 
to the wisdom of rational self -intelligence, and 
as whatever is in the inmost or head must also 
be in the derivatives or body, therefore the whole 
image is representative of self -intelligence ; the 
metals correspond to laws or doctrines of good 
life, 2 and since such doctrines among gentile 
nations were not founded on the Bible, which 
they did not possess, they were more or less the 
product of men's own intelligence, and conse- 
quently were spurious teachings and not the 
genuine doctrines taught by the Bible itself, and 
represented by the regenerate part of the Jewish 
people ; the period from Nebuchadnezzar to Antio- 

1 Comprising Daniel ii., 1-49. 

2 Worcester, Plants of the Bible, p. 272. 

43 



44 The Prophecies of Daniel 

chus Epiphanes comprises nearly the entire era 
of the intellectual development which occurred 
on the emotional and perceptive side of the natural 
degree of the human mind, and although this era 
lasted down to about 50 B.C., the time from the 
death of Antiochus Epiphanes in 164 B.C. to 50 
B.C. was not marked by any important new devel- 
opments of thought, but only by an eclectic 
combination of existing elements into compre- 
hensive systems. 

Although these systems of doctrine are specifi- 
cally interpreted in the following pages as spurious 
doctrines in regard to religious good life, no doubt 
the more intellectual systems of doctrine that 
teach not what is good but what is true are in- 
cluded in the meaning of the image. 

The four kingdoms constituting the image seen 
by Nebuchadnezzar are agreed by modern critics 
to be the Babylonian, Median, Persian, and 
Macedonian empires, the same as are represented 
by the four beasts in the seventh chapter of Daniel ; 
and the four varieties of religious doctrines in 
regard to good life are more or less exemplified 
in the literature of these four nations. The gold 
of the head of the image, represented by Nebuchad- 
nezzar, corresponds to the teaching of good life 
because it is of the Divine goodness; and the 
inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar reveal a remark- 
able loftiness of religious sentiment unequaled 
in the later royal literature of the Oriental world, 
and express a conception of sovereignty as the 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 45 

gracious gift of God, and a deep desire to follow 
in the path of God's righteous goodness. The 
following prayers of Nebuchadnezzar bear witness 
to lofty religious feeling existent in the Babylonian 
empire, which constituted the highest part of the 
image : 

eternal prince ! Lord of all being ! 
To the king whom thou lovest, and 
Whose name thou hast proclaimed 
As was pleasing to thee, 

Do thou lead aright his name, 
Guide him in a straight path. 

1 am the prince, thy favorite, 
The creature of thy hand ; 
Thou hast created me, and 
With dominion over all people 
Thou hast entrusted me. 
According to thy favor, O lord, 
Which thou dost bestow on 
All people, 

Cause me to love thy exalted lordship, 

And create in my heart 

The worship of thy divinity, 

And grant whatever is pleasing to thee, 

Because thou hast fashioned my life. 

As I love 

The fear of thy divinity, 

As I follow in the path of thy lordship, 

Look with favor upon the lifting up of my hands, 

Give ear to my prayers. 1 

1 Harper, Assyrian and Babylonian Literature, pp. 135, 142. 



4 6 The Prophecies of Daniel 

The silver of the breast and arms of the image, 
represented by the inferior kingdom of Media, 
corresponds to doctrines teaching good life because 
it is of the Divine truth; and while it is difficult 
to determine the exact dates of the composition 
of the hymns of the Zend-Avesta, which contains 
portions of the literature of the ancient Medes 
and Persians, in some of the hymns which may 
be attributed to the period of Median supremacy 
there breathes a spirit of love for truth and its 
teachings of good life, 1 which is identical with 
the meaning of the silver composing the breast 
and arms of the image. 

The copper of the belly and legs, represented 
by the Persian empire, corresponds to doctrines 
teaching a good life in order that men may share 
in heavenly happiness; and the doing of good 
deeds in this world in order to receive heavenly 
happiness is plainly enjoined in the following words 
of a later hymn : 

"He who wishes to seize the heavenly reward 
will seize it by giving gifts to him who holds up 
the Law to us in this world here below." 2 

The iron of the legs and feet, represented by 
the Macedonian empire, corresponds to doctrines 
teaching a good life because of the consequences 
of evil doing ; and the Stoic and Epicurean systems 
will serve as illustrations of this kind of doctrine 

1 See especially the twenty-seventh and the twelfth Yast in 
Muller's Zend-Avesta, part ii., pp. 146-148, 168-171. 

2 Idem, p. 336. 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 47 

originating under the Macedonian empire, for 
both these systems taught the desirability of 
suppressing bodily passions and pleasures because 
of the ill consequences of excessive indulgence in 
them, although the aim of the Stoic was the peace 
of soul which results from virtuous self-mastery, 
whereas the aim of the Epicurean was the attain- 
ment of the mental pleasures which physical indul- 
gence mars. The combined iron and clay of the feet 
and toes, also represented by a part of the Mace- 
donian empire, corresponds to doctrinal teachings 
as to the consequences of evil, which are founded 
on mere feeling ; and an example of such teaching 
is preserved in Callimachus' Hymn to Demeter, 
where the author "in order that everyone may 
avoid similar transgressions," gives a detailed 
description of the violent and insatiable pangs of 
hunger which Erysichthon suffered in consequence 
of his having offended the goddess by cutting 
down the trees in her sacred grove. Similar 
descriptions of the consequences of wrong doing 
occur in the Book of Enoch, where the wicked are 
depicted as being cast into literal burning fire, 
and details are supplied by the imaginative feelings 
of the writers. 

Separately considered, the iron of the feet of the 
image represents teaching in regard to the conse- 
quences of evil based on an intellectual perception 
of the general principles involved, which teaching 
is, like iron, firm and tenacious ; whereas the clay 
of the feet represents a loose aggregation of sensu- 



4 8 The Prophecies of Daniel 

ous appearances strung together by emotional per- 
ception, which, like clay, although easily molded 
into any shape to confirm any doctrine, has little 
consistency or strength. Hence the feet and toes 
of the image, part of iron and part of clay, repre- 
sent a twofold doctrinal system which partakes on 
the one hand of the strength of logical natural 
truth, represented by iron, and on the other hand 
of the weakness of poorly connected appearances 
represented by clay. In the domain of religion, 
the contrast would be between a logical system of 
well-considered and consistent theology as opposed 
to a mass of literal Biblical facts and quotations 
illogically flung together to support a theory. 
Systems of doctrine springing from these two 
divergent mental attitudes cannot be reconciled 
with each other, just as the iron and the clay of 
the feet of the image did not mingle. 

There seems to be extant no record of the per- 
ceptive self-intelligent attempts made during 
the Macedonian period to reconcile these two 
divergent systems of doctrine and interpretation, 
which perceptive attempts are meant by the seed 
of man by which the iron and clay sought to mingle 
themselves x ; yet in the above-mentioned Hymn to 
Demeter, along with the excessive literalism of the 
story of Erysichthon there is a symbolic interpreta- 
tion of the meaning of the worshipers of the 
goddess treading the city without sandals or fillets 
and carrying baskets full of gold. This fact 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 10,030. 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 49 

shows at least the existence in the thought of these 
ancient times of a mingling of the symbolic and 
literal methods of teaching and interpretation, 
which are like the iron and clay in the feet and 
toes of the image; for the iron seems to be repre- 
sented by the Syrian kingdom of the later Mace- 
donian empire, and Syria corresponds to the 
knowledge of correspondences or symbolism, and 
the clay seems to be represented by the Egyptian 
kingdom of the later Macedonian empire, 1 and 
Egypt corresponds to the knowledge of the things 
of the other world or to literal knowledge of 
spiritual things in general. 

Now follows the interpretation of the spiritual 
meaning of the second chapter of Daniel. 

In a thoughtful state of the rule of comparative, 
inferential rationalism in the church a symbolic 
revelation of the future was made to the ruling 
spirit of rationalism, who was troubled to know 
its meaning and could not rest. Therefore this 
master spirit summoned all his representatives 
of rational self -wisdom and occultism, that they 
might declare to him the meaning of the symbolic 
revelation. So they came, and stood ready to 
aid him. And the ruling spirit said to them, I 
have had a dream-revelation, and my inward mind 
is troubled to know the meaning. Then said the 

1 The period of the feet of the image seems to have begun 
about 220 B.C., when there occurred a marked change in the 
affairs of the Macedonian empire {see J. P. Mahaffy, Greek Life 
and Thought, p. 420), and a perceptible externalization of its 
life and thought. 
4 



5° The Prophecies of Daniel 

representatives of rational self -wisdom to the ruling 
spirit in the language of symbolism, x O king, live 
forever; tell thy servants what the dream was, 
and we will show the interpretation. The master 
spirit answered and said to the representatives 
of rational self -wisdom, The word from me is 
sure 2 ; if you make not known to me the dream 
and its interpretation, you shall be denounced, 
and your state of life shall be made most contempt- 
ible. But if you show the dream and its inter- 
pretation, you shall receive of me gifts and rewards 
and great honor. Therefore show me the dream 
and its interpretation. They answered the second 
time and said, Let the king tell his servants the 
dream, and we will show the interpretation. The 
ruling spirit answered and said, I know of a cer- 
tainty that you would gain time, because you see 
that the word from me is sure. But if you make 
not known to me the dream, there is but one law 
for you; for you have prepared lying and corrupt 
words to speak before me, till my mind be changed. 

1 It is difficult to determine the exact correspondence of the 
Aramaic or Syrian language, which was a Semitic language spoken 
by the Arameans dwelling in Syria, Northern Mesopotamia, 
and part of Arabia; but as the chief seat of the Arameans seems 
to have been in Syria, and as Syria corresponds to the knowledge 
of correspondences, Aramaic together with Syriac may perhaps 
be regarded as representing the language of symbolism, just as 
Hebrew is the language of veneration, French the language of 
analysis, German the language of synthesis, English the language 
of judgment, and Italian the language of volition. 

2 The correct translation of the Hebrew original seems to be 
" The word from me is sure," and not " The thing is gone from 
me." 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 51 

Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know 
that you can show me its interpretation. The 
representatives of rational self -wisdom answered 
before the ruling spirit of rationalism and said, 
There is not a man upon the earth that can show 
the king's matter, forasmuch as no king, lord, or 
ruler has asked such a thing of any representative 
of rationalistic wisdom or occultism. And it is a 
difficult thing that the king requires, and there 
is no other that can show it before the king except 
the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh. For 
this cause the ruling spirit of rationalism was 
angry and very furious, and commanded to 
destroy all the wise representatives of self-intel- 
ligent rationalism. So the decree went forth, 
and the wise men were to be slain; and they 
sought the perceptive and other elements of the 
true church to destroy them. 

Then the emotional and perceptive element of 
the true church returned answer with counsel 
and prudence to the disciple of rational truth, 1 
who was representative of the most powerful of 
all the habitual arguments of the ruling spirit 
of rationalism, and who was gone forth to slay 
the representatives of rational self-wisdom and 

1 The name Arioch (verse 14) means " a servant of the moon- 
god," and therefore signifies a disciple of Divine rational truth. 
The main duties of the king's bodyguard were constantly to pro- 
tect the nyyal person and to perform executions at his command ; 
hence its members represented the offensive and defensive truths 
or arguments which the king habitually employed to defend his 
own position or effectually to silence others. 



5 2 The Prophecies of Daniel 

occultism, and he said to him, Wherefore is the 
decree so urgent from the king ? Then this disciple 
of rational truth made the thing known to the 
emotional and perceptive element of the true 
church, who went in and desired of the ruling 
spirit of rationalism that he would appoint him 
a time, and he would show the king the interpreta- 
tion. Then the perceptive element of the true 
church entered into his own state of life, and com- 
municated the matter to the rationalized thought- 
ful, cognizant, and expressional elements receptive 
of the true religion, that they might ask the mer- 
cies of the God of heaven concerning this secret 
revelation, in order that the perceptive and other 
elements of the true church should not perish 
with the rest of the representatives of rational 
self -wisdom. Then was the secret revealed to 
the perceptive element in a vision of the night, 
significant of the last time or night of the church. 
Then this perceptive element blessed the God of 
heaven, saying, Blessed be the name of God for 
ever and ever ; for wisdom and might are His. And 
He changes the times and the seasons ; He removes 
kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the 
wise, and knowledge to them that have under- 
standing; He reveals the deep and secret things; 
He knows what is in the darkness, and the light 
dwells with Him. I thank Thee and praise Thee, 
O Thou God of my fathers, Who hast given me 
wisdom and might, and hast now made known to 
me what we desired of Thee; for Thou hast made 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 53 

known to us the king's matter. Therefore the 
perceptive element of the true church went in 
to the disciple of rational truth, whom the ruling 
spirit of rationalism had appointed to destroy the 
representatives of rational self -wisdom. He went, 
and said thus to him, Destroy not the represen- 
tatives of rational self -wisdom ; bring me in before 
the ruling spirit of rationalism, and I will show 
him the< interpretation. Then the disciple of 
rational truth brought in the perceptive element 
of the true church before the king of rationalism 
in haste, and said thus to him, I have found a 
man of those claiming to have the true religion, 
though captive to the sway of rationalism, that 
will make known to the king the interpretation. 
The king answered and said to the perceptive 
element of the true church, who by residence 
under the influence of rationalism had taken on 
a spiritual rational quality in the natural mind, 
Art thou able to make known to me the dream 
which I have seen and its interpretation? The 
representative of the perceptive element of the 
true church answered before the king of rational- 
ism, and said, The secret which the king has 
demanded no representatives of rational self- 
wisdom or occultism can show to the king; but 
there is a God in heaven that reveals secret things, 
and He has made known to the king what shall 
be in the latter days. Thy dream-revelation 
and thy visions of inward perception when thy 
natural mind was quiescent are these : As for thee, 



54 The Prophecies of Daniel 

king of rationalism, thy thoughts came into 
thine inward mind when thine outward nature 
was at rest in regard to what should come to pass 
hereafter; and He that reveals secret things has 
made known to thee what shall come to pass. 
But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me 
for any self -wisdom that I may have more than 
any living, but to the intent that the interpretation 
may be made known to the ruling spirit of ration- 
alism, and that he may understand the thoughts 
with which he is inspired. 

Thou, king of rationalism, sawest, and, be- 
hold, a great image significative of the aggre- 
gate spurious doctrines of good life framed by the 
perceptive natural mind of the church in its self- 
wisdom. This aggregate of spurious, self -intel- 
ligent doctrines, which was mighty, and the 
mental brilliancy of which was surpassing, stood 
embodied before thy mind; and its appearance 
was formidable. As for this aggregate of spurious 
doctrines, its emotional and perceptive element 
was composed of spurious doctrines teaching 
good life because it is of the Divine goodness, 
its element of higher thoughtfulness and active 
expression was made up of spurious doctrines 
teaching good life because it is of the Divine truth, 
its element of lower thoughtfulness and thought- 
ful activity was composed of spurious doctrines 
teaching good life in order that men may share 
in heavenly happiness, its cognizant and ex- 
ecutive element inwardly consisted of spurious 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 55 

doctrines teaching good life because of the dire 
consequences of wrong doing, and outwardly 
consisted of such doctrines of consequences 
together with doctrines teaching as the conse- 
quences of evil doing the assumptions of mere 
feeling. Thou sawest till that genuine, compre- 
hensive doctrines, not the work of mere man, 
attacked and completely refuted the lowest de- 
velopment of this aggregation of spurious doctrines, 
which development consisted of doctrines teach- 
ing real or symbolic consequences of evil and of 
doctrines teaching fanciful or literal consequences. 
Then were the spurious symbolic teaching of con- 
sequences, the fanciful literal teaching of conse- 
quences, the teaching of good life that men may 
share in heavenly happiness, the teaching of good 
life because it is of the Divine truth, and the teach- 
ing of good life because it is of the Divine good- 
ness, broken in pieces together, and became the 
chaff of mere appearances when carefully examined 
in the light of true spiritual thought; and powerful 
spiritual thinking swept them away, so that no 
place in a genuine spiritual theology was found for 
them ; and these genuine, comprehensive doctrines 
that smote the spurious doctrines of self-intelli- 
gence grew great among mankind,, and were 
accepted throughout the world. 

This is the dream-vision; and we will tell its 
interpretation before the king. Thou, king of 
rationalism, art king of kings, to whom the God 
of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, and 



56 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the strength, and the glory; and wheresoever the 
elements of spiritual life and thought exist, the 
natural affections and the speculative thoughts 
has He given into thy power, and has made thee 
to rule over them all: thou representest the high- 
est element of these spurious doctrines, the ele- 
ment that teaches good life because it is of the 
Divine goodness. After thee shall arise another 
religious kingdom inferior to thine; and another 
third kingdom of doctrines teaching good life 
in order to share in heavenly happiness, which 
shall rule over all the church. And the fourth 
religious kingdom shall be strong as the doctrines 
teaching good life because of the dire consequences 
of wrong doing, forasmuch as such doctrines 
break in pieces and subdue all things ; and as such 
doctrines that crush all opposition, this kingdom 
shall break in pieces and crush. And whereas 
thou sawest the ultimate doctrines composed 
partly of teachings of literal consequences based 
on mere feeling and partly of teachings of symbolic 
consequences, it shall be a divided kingdom; but 
there shall be in it the strength of doctrines of 
real consequences, forasmuch as thou sawest these 
doctrines mixed with the doctrines founded on 
mere feeling. And as the lowest part of the ulti- 
mate doctrines was composed partly of doctrines 
of real consequences and partly of doctrines of 
fanciful consequences, so the kingdom shall be 
partly strong and partly brittle. And whereas 
thou sawest the doctrines of real consequences 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 57 

mixed with the teachings of mere feeling, efforts 
shall be made through self-intelligent perceptions 
to reconcile these two conflicting systems of doc- 
trine; but they cannot be harmonized, just as 
the doctrines of real consequences and the doc- 
trines of fanciful consequences do not make a 
homogeneous whole. During the prevalence of 
those religious states shall the God of Heaven 
establish a church which shall never be destroyed, 
nor shall its sovereignty be left to any other 
system of doctrine; but it shall break in pieces 
and consume all these other religious systems, and 
it shall stand forever. Forasmuch as thou sawest 
that a genuine doctrinal theology was framed from 
inmost wisdom under the Divine guidance, and 
that it broke in pieces the spurious doctrines of 
consequences of evil, of sharing in heavenly happi- 
ness, of fanciful consequences of evil, of living 
according to the Divine truth, and of living accord- 
ing to the Divine goodness, the great God has 
made known to the ruling spirit of rationalism 
what shall come to pass hereafter ; and the dream- 
vision is certain, and the interpretation thereof 
sure. 

Then the ruling spirit of inferential, compara- 
tive rationalism paid deep respect and homage 
to the perceptive element receptive of the true 
religion, and commanded that due expressions of 
reverence and gratitude be made thereto. The 
ruling spirit of rationalism answered to the repre- 
sentative of the perceptive element of the true 



58 The Prophecies of Daniel 

church, and said, Of a truth your God is the God 
of gods, and the Lord of lords, and a revealer of 
secrets, seeing thou hast been able to reveal this 
secret. Then the ruling spirit of rationalism made 
the representative of the perceptive element of 
the true church of great importance, and bestowed 
on him signal honors, and made him to rule over 
the whole province of self -intelligent rationalism, 
and to be chief leader over all the representatives 
of rational self-wisdom. And the representative 
of the perceptive element of the true church made 
request of the ruling spirit of rationalism, and he 
gave to the rationalized thoughtful, cognizant, 
and expressional elements receptive of the true 
religion a commanding influence in all the deliber- 
ations of the outward realm of self-intelligent 
rationalism; but the perceptive element of the 
true church dwelt in the inward circle of the juris- 
diction of the ruling spirit of rationalism. 

With reference to the future, the image seen by- 
Nebuchadnezzar represents ancient forms of spuri- 
ous doctrines of good life, and probably spurious 
doctrines in general, which will reappear in the 
Christian theology of the immediate future, per- 
haps in part as systems of mere ethical morality, 
and at any rate as the product of self -intelligence, 
and not derived from the Bible itself. 

Nebuchadnezzar stands for the future rational- 
istic leaders, probably of the Roman Catholic 
Church, who in thoughtful states of mind will 
receive, no doubt, from reading the Bible, obscure 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 59 

intimations of the future of the church, which 
will disturb them because they cannot clearly 
grasp their significance. Then these rationalistic 
leaders will consult all their chief exponents of 
rational self -wisdom and occultism, in order that 
they may explain to them the meaning of these 
intangible mental perceptions. These self-intel- 
ligent wise men will attempt to explain by a 
symbolic method of their own the statements of 
the Bible, in regard to the meaning of which the 
rationalistic leaders have received their obscure 
intimations; but as a condition of correct and 
authoritative interpretation the leaders will insist 
that the wise men prove that they have been 
endowed from on high with a special illumination, 
in order to enable them to interpret truly the 
revelations contained in the Bible. 1 If they 
cannot do this, the leaders will have no faith in 
their interpretation, and will denounce their self- 
wisdom as useless and unprofitable; but if the 
wise men can produce proof of their special illu- 
mination, and so give evidence of their ability 
to interpret the Bible authoritatively, then the 
leaders of the church will pay them great attention 
and honor. But none of the self-intelligent wise 
men or scholars in the church can give such proof 

1 Nebuchadnezzar's demand that the Chaldeans should tell 
him his dream as well as its interpretation, and the Chaldeans' 
reply that no one could do this except the gods, whose dwelling 
was not with flesh, shows clearly that such a demand was equiva- 
lent to requiring a proof of the possession of special illumination 
from God. 



60 The Prophecies of Daniel 

of illumination from on high, and therefore they 
will be unable to vouch to the leaders of the church 
for the validity of their interpretations. They 
will try to bide their time in putting forward their 
interpretations until such a condition shall have 
been withdrawn; but the rationalistic leaders will 
not permit this, and will reiterate the demand for 
such proof of special illumination as a preliminary 
to the acceptance of any interpretation, denounc- 
ing their inability to supply it as a sign of the 
falseness and corruptness of their teachings. 
Whereupon the self -intelligent scholars will claim 
that it is an unreasonable condition to impose on 
them, and one which has never been required 
before in the church as a preliminary to belief 
in the teachings of self -intelligent wisdom and 
occultism, and that it cannot possibly be complied 
with. Therefore the rationalistic leaders of the 
Roman Catholic Church will be very much in- 
censed, and will give command to destroy the 
influence of all these wise representatives of self- 
inteUigent rationalism. So a movement will be 
set on foot to undermine and destroy the influence 
of these self -wise teachers, and among them the 
receivers of the New Church within the Roman 
Catholic Church. Then the perceptive receivers 
of the New Church will answer wisely and prudently 
the powerful rationalistic arguments of the lovers 
of rational truth, who are entrusted with the task 
of counteracting and destroying the influence of 
the self-wise teachers of the church, and will 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 61 

learn from them the cause of the strong move- 
ment against them; and these perceptive mem- 
bers of the New Church will request an interview 
with the rationalistic leaders of the Roman 
Catholic Church, promising rightly to interpret 
the Bible. 

After consultation with the other component 
elements of the New Church existing within the 
Roman Catholic Church, and after mutual prayer 
for merciful Divine enlightenment on the subject 
in order that the doctrines of the New Church 
may not perish along with the teachings of 
self -intelligent occultism, a revelation, probably 
through the writings of the New Church, will be 
made to the perceptive receivers of the New 
Church, enlightening their obscurity. Then these 
perceptive members of the New Church will 
bless and praise the Lord for His wisdom, and 
power, and enlightenment, and for His revealing 
the proof desired by the rationalistic leaders of 
the church, which lies in the fulfillment of New- 
Church prophecies in regard to the future of the 
Christian Church; for such fulfillment will be a 
proof of the Divine illumination from which they 
originated. In consequence of this enlightening 
revelation the perceptive receivers of the New 
Church will request the lovers of rational truth, 
appointed to destroy the influence of the teachers 
of rationalistic self -wisdom, not to destroy these 
teachers, but to bring the perceptive New Church 
members before the rationalistic leaders of the 



62 The Prophecies of Daniel 

church, and they will show them the true interpre- 
tation of Biblical prophecies. 

Then the lovers of rational truth will speedily 
introduce the perceptive receivers of the New 
Church to the leaders of the church, stating that 
they claim to have the wisdom of the true religion, 
and will make known the desired interpretation. 
These leaders will ask the rationalized perceptive 
members of the New Church whether they are 
able to give proof of illumination from on high in 
order to show that their interpretation is true 
and authoritative, and the perceptive New Church 
members will reply that no representative of 
self -intelligent wisdom or occultism can give any 
proof of Divine illumination as a test of valid 
interpretation, but that nevertheless there is a 
proof of the true interpretation of Biblical prophe- 
cies in that the Lord, Who alone can reveal the 
future, has made known beforehand to the ration- 
alistic leaders of the church, through the writings 
of the New Church, what shall come to pass at 
the time of the end of the Christian Church. 

The obscure apprehensions and conceptions 
which came into the minds of the leaders of the 
church when their own natural minds lay as it 
were asleep were about the statements of the 
Bible in regard to the end of the Christian Church, 
and the Lord Who reveals the secret things of 
the future has made known these things to them 
beforehand; but the perceptive members of the 
New Church were not enlightened by the Lord as 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 63 

to the meaning of these scriptural passages be- 
cause of any superior self-wisdom, but in order 
that the rationalistic leaders of the church might 
know the true interpretation of the Bible on the 
subject, and might clearly understand the thoughts 
with which they were inspired. 

The great image, in regard to which the church 
leaders had thought obscurely, is the vast aggre- 
gate of spurious religious or ethical doctrines 
framed by the self-intelligence of the Christian 
Church during the time of its consummation. 
This mighty system of doctrines was brilliant with 
the light of self -wisdom, and its appearance was 
formidable to the unenlightened mind. The 
emotional and perceptive element of this vast 
aggregation of doctrines was spurious doctrines 
of good life because of the Divine goodness, its 
element of higher thoughtfulness and active ex- 
pression was spurious doctrines of good life be- 
cause of the Divine truth, its element of lower 
thoughtfulness and thoughtful activity was spuri- 
ous doctrines of good life in order to share in 
heavenly happiness, its element of knowledge 
and executive activity consisted inwardly of 
doctrines of good life because of the consequences 
of evil doing, and outwardly in part of these 
doctrines and in part of doctrines teaching conse- 
quences of evil which are founded on the appear- 
ances of mere feeling. The stone that was cut 
out without hands is the genuine religious doctrines 
of the New Church formed under the Divine 



64 The Prophecies of Daniel 

guidance, and these genuine doctrines will smite 
and break in pieces the feet of iron and clay, 
which are the ultimate spurious doctrines of good 
life based on real and on fanciful consequences 
of wrong doing. (These genuine New Church 
doctrines will destroy the feet of the image first, 
because in the return of the race through the 
religious remains of these ancient periods, which 
return is now at hand, the latest of these develop- 
ments is the first in point of time to be reached. 
In fact, the Christian Church's doctrines of the pre- 
destination of the elect, the torment of the wicked 
in hell fire, and other spurious doctrines which were 
derived from the Jewish Church of the period cov- 
ered by the feet of iron and clay, have already been 
broken in pieces and their falsity exposed in the writ- 
ings of Swedenborg.) Afterward all these spurious 
doctrines of good life taught by the Christian Church 
during the time of its end will be broken in pieces, 
and scattered abroad as the chaff of mere appear- 
ances when carefully examined in the light of New 
Church thought ; and the strong spiritual thinking 
of the New Church will sweep them away, so that 
no place in a genuine theology founded on the 
Bible can be found for them, and the doctrines of 
the New Church at first received by a few will 
spread among mankind and become accepted 
throughout the world. 

"This is the abstract meaning of the Biblical 
passages about which you thought obscurely; but 
in the concrete significance, you, O rational lead- 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 65 

ers, are supreme in the affairs of the church, and 
God has given you this dominion and power and 
glory; and wherever the elements of spiritual 
life and thought exist inwardly in the church or 
mind all the outward natural affections and specu- 
lative thoughts He has given into the power of 
your rationality, and has made you to rule over 
them. You are the perceptive framers of the spuri- 
ous doctrines teaching good life because it is of 
the Divine goodness. Before you came another 
religious kingdom inferior to yours, and also a 
third religious kingdom, which consisted of spuri- 
ous doctrines teaching good life in order to share 
in heavenly happiness, and which bore rule over 
all the church. Previous to this there existed a 
fourth religious kingdom, which was strong and 
destructive and masterful through its doctrines 
teaching a good life because of the dire consequences 
of wrong doing. Yet this was a divided religious 
kingdom; for it had in it the strength of doctrines 
inculcating good life because of the consequences 
of evil, but also the weakness of doctrines teaching 
as consequences of evil the ill-founded fancies of 
mere feeling. You have witnessed in the com- 
paratively recent history of the church how efforts 
have been made through self -intelligent percep- 
tions to reconcile these conflicting systems of 
doctrine with each other and with the teachings 
of the Bible; but they could not be harmonized, 
because they are incompatible. While these out- 
ward states were regnant throughout the religious 
4 



66 The Prophecies of Daniel 

world, the Lord established a New Church, which 
will never be destroyed, nor will it be succeeded 
by any other church; but it will shatter and con- 
summate all the false teachings derived from for- 
mer churches, and it will stand forever. The 
literal words of the Bible, where you read that a 
stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, 
and that it broke in pieces the iron, the copper, 
the clay, the silver, and the gold, mean that the 
genuine doctrines of the New Church, revealed 
by the Lord, will destroy all these spurious doc- 
trines of the Christian Church. By means of 
this very passage the Lord has made known to 
you as leaders of His Church what should come 
to pass in the future of the Christian Church; 
and the symbolic prediction is certain, and the 
given interpretation sure." 

Then the rationalistic leaders of the Roman 
Catholic Church will pay great respect and homage 
to these perceptive members of the New Church 
within their fold, and will make them the recipi- 
ents of reverent and grateful attentions ; and these 
leaders will acknowledge, because of the proof 
given of Divine authoritative interpretation, that 
the Lord as revealed in the doctrines of the New 
Church is the true God of heaven and earth, 
Who alone is capable of enlightening the human 
mind in regard to spiritual mysteries. Then the 
leaders of the church will make the perceptive 
receivers of the New Church of great importance, 
and will bestow on them many tokens of esteem 



Spurious Doctrines of Good Life 67 

and honor, and will give them a commanding 
influence in all the affairs of their rational, self- 
intelligent church, and will make them chief among 
the representatives of rational self -wisdom. The 
other receivers of the New Church representing 
the elements of thought, knowledge, and expres- 
sion will then be appointed over the outward affairs 
of this rational, self -intelligent church; but the 
receivers ' representing the perceptive element 
will be retained in the intimate service of the 
leaders of the church themselves. 



A FICTITIOUS GOD 1 

THE ruling spirit of self-intelligent and self- 
exalting rationalism invented a fictitious 
god, having the semblance of the Divine goodness 
and the appearance of lofty wisdom and compre- 
hensive intelligence ; and he sought to establish its 
worship within the church of self -intelligent 
rationalism. 2 Then the master spirit of rational- 
ism sent for all the chief supporters of his rule to 
come to attend the inauguration of the worship 
of the fictitious god which he sought to establish; 
and all the chief supporters of his rationalistic 
kingdom gathered together to the inauguration 
of the worship of the fictitious god which the 
ruling spirit of rationalism had set up, and they 
came under the influence of this fictitious god set 
up by self -intelligent and self-exalting rationalism. 
Then the proclaimer of the theories of rationalism 
cried aloud, To you who are in wisdom and good- 
ness and knowledge it is commanded that at what 
time ye hear the expression of worshipful feelings 
ye reverence and worship the god of goodness 

1 Comprising Daniel iii., 1-30. 

2 As the exact location of the plain of Dura is unknown, there- 
fore no interpretation of its meaning is attempted. 

68 



A Fictitious God 69 

which the ruling spirit of rationalism has set up, 
and whoever does not so reverence and worship 
shall the same hour be condemned to the fierce 
evil fires of hell. Therefore at that time when all 
the people heard the expression of worshipful 
emotions all who were in wisdom and goodness 
and knowledge reverenced and worshiped the 
fictitious god of goodness which the ruling spirit 
of rationalism had set up. 

Wherefore during this state in the church certain 
comparing rationalists came near, and brought 
accusation against them who had the true religion. 
They answered and said to the ruling spirit of 
rationalism, O king, live forever. Thou, O king 
of rationalism, hast made a decree that every man 
that shall hear the expression of worshipful emo- 
tions shall reverence and worship the god of good- 
ness, and whoever does not reverence and worship 
shall be condemned to the fierce evil fires of hell. 
There are certain men claiming to have the true 
religion whom thou hast appointed over the affairs 
of the realm of self -intelligent rationalism, even 
the representatives of rationalized thought, know- 
ledge, and expression, receptive of what is claimed 
to be the true religion; and these representatives, 
O king of rationalism, have not regarded thee, 
they served not thy gods, nor worship the god of 
goodness which thou hast set up. 

Then the ruling spirit of rationalism in rage and 
fury commanded to bring the representatives of 
rationalized thought, knowledge, and expression 



7° The Prophecies of Daniel 

of the true church, and they brought these repre- 
sentatives before the ruling spirit of rationalism. 
The master spirit of rationalism answered and said 
to them, Is it of purpose, representatives of 
rationalized thought, knowledge, and expression 
claiming the true religion, that ye serve not my 
god, nor worship the god of goodness which I have 
set up ? Now if ye be ready that at what time ye 
hear the expression of worshipful feelings ye rever- 
ence and worship the god which I have made, 
it is well; but if ye worship not, ye shall be con- 
demned the same hour to the fierce evil fires of 
hell, and who is the God that shall deliver you 
out of my power? The representatives of ration- 
alized thought, feeling, and expression of the true 
church answered and said to the ruling spirit, 
O master spirit of rationalism, we have no need 
to answer thee in this matter. If our God whom 
we serve is able to deliver us from the fierce evil 
fires of hell, he will deliver us out of thy power, 
O ruling spirit; but if not, be it known to thee, 
O master spirit of rationalism, that we will not 
serve thy rationalistic gods, nor worship the 
fictitious god of goodness which thou hast set up. 
Then was the master spirit of rationalism full of 
fury, and his inward frame of mind was changed 
against the representatives of rationalized thought, 
knowledge, and expression belonging to the true 
church. Therefore he spoke, and commanded 
that the fierce hell fires to which they were to be 
condemned should be pictured far worse than 



A Fictitious God 71 

ever before, and he appointed certain powerful 
reasoners who were among his combative and 
argumentative force to bind with their reasonings 
the representatives of rationalized thought, know- 
ledge, and expression of the true church, and to 
condemn them to the fierce evil fires of hell. Then 
these representatives of the true religion were 
bound by condemnatory arguments directed even 
at the very form in which they expressed their 
views, and were condemned to the fierce hell fires 
of evil. Therefore because the command of the 
ruling spirit was urgent, and the imagined hell 
virulently portrayed, the very contact with the 
intense falsity of the evil condemnation destroyed 
the spiritual life and perception of the powerful 
reasoners who took up for condemnation the ele- 
ments of rationalized thought, knowledge, and 
expression belonging to the true church. And 
these representatives of all the intellectual elements 
of rationalized thought, knowledge, and expres- 
sion fell into trial and temptation through the 
arguments and condemnation consigning them 
to the fierce evil fires of hell. 

Then the ruling spirit of rationalism was aston- 
ished, and his mind experienced a speedy eleva- 
tion ; he spoke and said to his counselors, Did not 
we condemn to hell with our binding arguments 
the three representatives of all the intellectual 
elements claiming to belong to the true church? 
They answered and said to the ruling spirit, True, 
O master spirit. He answered and said, Lo, I 



72 The Prophecies of Daniel 

see four elements loosed from bonds, living in the 
midst of our fiery condemnation, and they have no 
hurt; and the aspect of the fourth is like a son of 
the gods. Then the ruling spirit of rationalism 
came near to the entrance of his own burning fiery 
condemnation; he spoke and said, Representatives 
of rationalized thought, knowledge, and expression 
of the true church, ye servants of the Most High 
God, come forth out of condemnation, and come 
hither. Then the representatives of rationalized 
thought, knowledge, and expression of the true 
church came forth out of the midst of the fiery 
condemnation. And all the chief supporters of 
the ruling spirit of rationalism, being gathered 
together, saw these representatives, that the fiery 
condemnation had no effect even on their outward 
lives, nor were their intimate and natural or their 
formal and artificial modes of expression changed, 
nor had the falsity of the condemnation left any 
perceptible trace upon them. 

The ruling spirit of rationalism spoke and said, 
Blessed be the God of these representatives of 
rationalized thought, knowledge, and expression 
of the true church, Who has sent his angel, and de- 
livered his servants that trusted in Him, and have 
changed the word of the ruling spirit, and have 
yielded their lives, that they might not serve nor 
worship any god except their own God. There- 
fore I make a decree that any intellectual, emo- 
tional, or cognizant element that speaks anything 
amiss against the God of the representatives of 



A Fictitious God 73 

rationalized thought, knowledge, and expression 
of the true church shall be denounced, and its 
position made most contemptible, because there 
is no other god that is able to deliver after this 
sort. Then the ruling spirit of rationalism pro- 
moted the representatives of rationalized thought, 
knowledge, and expression of the true church in 
the realm of self -intelligent rationalism. 

With reference to the future, Nebuchadnezzar 
stands as before for the future rationalistic lead- 
ers of the church, especially of the Roman Catholic 
Church, who in their self -intelligence and for the 
purpose of strengthening their rule over the church 1 
will invent a fictitious god of their own, having 
the semblance of the Divine goodness and the 
appearance of lofty wisdom and comprehensive 
intelligence; and they will seek to establish the 
worship of this god throughout their rationalistic 
church. Then the rationalistic rulers of the 
church will gather together all their chief support- 
ers to inaugurate the worship of this fictitious 
idea of God devised by self-intelligent and self- 
exalting rationalism. Then the preachers of these 
theories of rationalism will proclaim to all varieties 
of persons within their churches that they should 
unite in the expression of devout feeling, and 

1 "In general, all the consultations of the Babylonish race tend 
to this, that they may dominate not only over heaven, but over 
the whole earth, and thus that they may possess heaven and 
earth, obtaining each by means of the other. To effect this, 
they continually devise and hatch new laws and new doctrines" 
(Last Judgment, 58). 



74 The Prophecies of Daniel 

venerate and worship the god of goodness which 
the rationalistic rulers of the church have set up, 
and that whoever does not reverence and worship 
will straightway be condemned to the evil fires 
of hell. Therefore these persons will unite in the 
general expression of devout feeling, and will 
venerate and worship the fictitious god of good- 
ness set up by the rationalistic leaders of the 
church. When, however, this worship has been 
inaugurated, certain inferential rationalists will 
approach their leaders, and will bring accusation 
against the New Church receivers within the 
church, stating that, although the leaders have 
decreed that all in the church should join in the 
expression of devout feelings, and should venerate 
and worship this fictitious idea of god, and that 
all failing to do so should be condemned to hell, 
yet the New Church representatives of rational- 
ized thought, knowledge, and expression have not 
regarded this decree, they have not served the 
rationalistic views of God prevalent in the church, 
nor worshiped the fictitious god of goodness set 
up by the leaders. 

Then these rationalistic leaders, especially of 
the Roman Catholic Church, will in great wrath 
have these representatives of the intellectual New 
Church brought before them, and will inquire 
whether they have purposely neglected to serve 
the god of their rationalistic conceptions, and to 
worship the god of goodness which they have set 
up, telling them that, if they will even now join 



A Fictitious God 75 

in the general expression of devoutness and will 
reverence and worship their idea of God, all will 
be well; but if not, they shall straightway be 
excommunicated and condemned to hell, and no 
Divine influence can deliver them out of the 
power of the rulers of the church. Then these New 
Church representatives of rationalized thought, 
knowledge, and expression will answer the church 
rulers, arid say, "If our God whom we serve 
is able to deliver us from your condemnation 
to hell, he will deliver us out of your power, O 
rulers of the church; but if not, be it known to 
you, O church rulers, that we will not serve your 
rationalistic gods, nor worship the fictitious god 
of goodness which you have set up." 

Then the rationalistic leaders, especially of the 
Roman Catholic Church, will be filled with fury, 
and their inward disposition will be changed 
against these intellectual representatives of the New 
Church, and they will have the hell of their con- 
demnation pictured seven times worse than usual; 
and they will command some powerful reasoners 
among their argumentative array of thinkers to 
enmesh with their reasonings these representatives 
of the intellectual elements receptive of the New 
Church, and to condemn them to fierce hell fires. 
For their refusal to worship and for the very form 
of their refusal, these representatives will then be 
fiercely condemned to hell. Therefore because 
the leaders' command is so sharp, and because the 
condemnation is so virulent, the contact with the 



76 The Prophecies of Daniel 

intense falsity of it will deprive these powerful 
reasoners of their spiritual life and perception; 
and these representatives of the intellectual 
elements of the New Church will fall into trial 
and temptation through the fiery condemnation 
of them by the church . 

Then the rationalistic leaders, especially of the 
Roman Catholic Church, will be astonished, and 
will experience a sudden elevation of mind; for 
they will manifestly perceive that these intellec- 
tual New Church receivers are protected from 
harm by the presence of the Lord. The rational- 
istic church leaders will then bring these intellec- 
tual representatives of the New Church out from 
their fiery condemnation; and all the chief sup- 
porters and followers of rationalism will see that 
the condemnation of the church had no power over 
their lives, nor were their intimate and natural or 
their formal and artificial modes of expression al- 
tered, nor was any perceptible trace left upon them 
by the falsity of the condemnation. Wherefore the 
rationalistic leaders of the church will bless God as 
revealed in the doctrines of the New Church, Who 
by his presence delivered his servants who trusted 
in Him, and changed the decrees of all-prevailing 
rationalism, and yielded their lives that they might 
not serve nor worship any god but their own God ; 
and they will make a decree that anyone within 
the church who speaks anything amiss against 
the God of the intellectual representatives of the 
New Church shall be utterly denounced, and his 



A Fictitious God 77 

position in the church made most contemptible, 
because there is no other god who can deliver in 
this manner. Then the rationalistic leaders of the 
church will promote the New Church representa- 
tives of rationalized thought, knowledge, and 
expression in the affairs of their rationalistic 
church. 



THE HUMBLING OF THE PRIDE OF 
SELF-INTELLIGENCE I 

THIS chapter describes the humbling of the 
pride of self-intelligence in the youthful 
religious consciousness of the race, by cutting off 
from the mind the inflow of heavenly light, which 
is the source of its lofty rational wisdom. This 
humbling occurs because the self-love of the pro- 
prium exalts its naturalistic wisdom over the spirit- 
ual things of the mind and church, claiming them 
as its own, and seeking to rule over them. The 
result is that the boasted self -intelligence degener- 
ates into the most outward and superficial percep- 
tions, and becomes folly and insanity instead of 
true wisdom. After the insane nature of self -intelli- 
gence when directed to spiritual things is fully 
disclosed by experience, and the mind is uplifted 
again to receive the light of heaven, with the 
acknowledgment that the Lord is the source of 
all true life and wisdom, then human intelligence 
and spiritual understanding return to the man, 
and his rational wisdom and brightness are restored. 
The master spirit of comparing inferential 
rationalism, to all thoughtful, emotional, and 

1 Comprising Daniel iv., 1-37. 
78 



Humbling of Self- Intelligence 79 

cognizant elements that are in all the church, may 
you have much peaceful joy. It has seemed good 
to me to declare the confirmations and manifesta- 
tions which the Most High God has wrought 
toward me. How great are His confirmations! 
and how mighty are His manifestations! His 
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and His 
dominion is from generation to generation. 

I, the master spirit of inferential rationalism, 
was at ease in my state of life, and flourishing in 
my regal condition. I saw a dream-vision of the 
future which made me afraid, and the thoughts 
that came in my quiescent state of mind and my 
inward perceptions troubled me. Therefore I 
made a decree to bring in all the exponents of 
rationalistic self-wisdom before me, that they 
might make known to me the meaning of this 
vision of the future. Then came in the repre- 
sentatives of rationalistic self -wisdom and occult- 
ism, and I told the dream before them; but they 
did not make known to me its interpretation. 
But at the last the perceptive element receptive 
of the true religion came in before me, whose 
quality had taken on a spiritual-natural coloring 
of rationality in accordance with the quality 
insoired by the god of my own rationalistic con- 
ceptions, and in whom is the spirit of holy Divine 
truths; and I told the dream before him, saying, 
O representative of rational spiritual-natural 
perception, master of them that are versed in 
spiritual things, because I know that the spirit 



So The Prophecies of Daniel 

of holy Divine truths is in thee, and no secret 
troubles thee, tell me the visions of my future- 
predicting dream that I have seen, and the inter- 
pretation thereof. Thus were the visions of my 
inward perception when my natural mind was in 
a quiescent state: I saw, and, behold, a tree of wis- 
dom on the interior natural plane of the mind, 
and the inward elevation thereof was great. This 
wisdom grew and was powerful, and its inward 
elevation reached even to the spiritual plane of 
the mind, and its mental extension even to the 
outermost .things of the natural mind. Its per- 
ceptions of truth were fair, and its teachings of 
good many, and in it was spiritual food for all. 
The affections for doing good had protection 
under its influence, and the affections for spiritual 
thinking lived amid its broad thoughts, and all 
who were in good life were fed from it. I saw in 
the mental visions of my inward perception when 
my natural mind was quiescent, and, behold, a 
representative of the angels, who have the clear 
light of spiritual goodness and holy truths, came 
down from heaven. He cried aloud, and said thus, 
Hew down this wisdom, and cut off its broad 
thoughts, shake off its perceptions of truth, and 
scatter its teachings of good works, let the affec- 
tions for doing good get away from under it, and let 
the affections for thinking depart from its broad 
thoughts. Nevertheless leave the basic element 
that composes the sensuous proprium of the natural 
mind, restricted to the outward moral perceptions 



Humbling of Self- Intelligence 81 

that good is to be done merely because of the con- 
sequences of evil or simply in order to share in 
heavenly happiness, to the low perceptions of 
natural truth, and to the most vague and general 
perceptions of what is spiritual, and let his portion 
be with the merely natural affections in the low per- 
ceptions of the natural mind. Let his inspiration 
be changed from what is human, and let the in- 
spiration of merely natural and bestial affection 
be given to him, and let him continue in this state 
until its completion. The sentence of judgment 
is by the decree of the angels who are in spiritual 
goodness, and the matter of condemnation by 
word of the angels who are in holy truths ; to the 
intent that they who have spiritual life may know 
that the Most High rules in the religious kingdom 
of men, and gives it to whomsoever He will, and 
sets up over it those who are least in their own 
esteem. This dream-vision I, the master spirit 
of comparing inferential rationalism, have seen; 
and thou, O representative of rational perception 
on the spiritual-natural plane, declare the inter- 
pretation, forasmuch as all the representatives 
of self -wisdom in my domain are not able to make 
known to me the interpretative meaning; but 
thou art able, for the spirit of holy Divine truths 
is in thee. 

Then the representative of the perceptive ele- 
ment of the true church, who possessed spiritual 
rationality on the natural plane, was appalled 
for a while, and his thoughts troubled him. The 



82 The Prophecies of Daniel 

ruling spirit of rationalism answered and said, 
Representative of rational perception on the 
spiritual-natural plane, let not the dream or the 
interpretation trouble thee. The representative 
of rational perception on the spiritual-natural 
plane answered and said, My lord, this dream- 
revelation of the future has reference to your evil 
ways, and its interpretation to your false ideas. 
The tree of wisdom that thou sawest, which grew 
and was powerful, whose inward elevation reached 
even to the spiritual plane of the mind, and its 
mental extension to all things of the natural mind, 
whose perceptions of truth were fair, and teach- 
ings of good works many, in which was spiri- 
tual food for all, under the protection of which 
the affections for doing good dwelt, and upon whose 
broad thoughts the affections for spiritual think- 
ing had their habitation; it is thou, O ruling 
spirit of rationalism, that art grown and become 
powerful, for thy greatness is grown, and reaches 
to the spiritual things of heaven, and thy dominion 
to the outermosts of the natural plane of the 
church. And whereas the master spirit saw a 
representative of the angels, who have the clear 
light of spiritual goodness and holy truths, coming 
down from heaven, and saying, Hew down this 
wisdom, and destroy it ; nevertheless leave its basic 
sensuous proprium in the natural mind, restricted 
to the outward moral perceptions that good is 
to be done merely because of the consequences of 
evil or simply in order to share in heavenly happi- 



Humbling of Self- Intelligence 83 

ness, to the low ideas of natural intelligence, and 
to the dimmest general perceptions of anything 
spiritual, and let his portion be with the merely 
natural affections of the mind, until such a state 
is completed in all its stages, this is the interpreta- 
tion, O ruling spirit, and it is the decree of the 
Most High, which is come upon my lord, the ruling 
spirit of rationalism; that thou shalt be driven 
from life truly human, and thy dwelling shall be 
with the affections of the merely natural mind, 
and thou shalt be made to subsist on the low per- 
ceptions which are suitable for the merely natural 
affections for helpfulness, and shalt have only the 
vaguest perception of anything spiritual, and shalt 
pass through all phases of this condition; till 
thou know that the Most High rules in the religi- 
ous kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever 
He will. And whereas they commanded to leave 
the sensuous intelligence of the proprium which 
serves as the basis of higher spiritual wisdom, thy 
kingdom shall be sure to thee after that thou 
shalt have known that spiritual things rule over 
natural things. Wherefore, O ruling spirit, let 
my counsel be acceptable to thee, and break off 
thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities 
by merciful good deeds; perhaps there may be a 
lengthening of thy prosperity. 

All this came upon the ruling spirit of comparing 
inferential rationalism. At the time when his 
pride of self -exalting intelligence had reached its 
full growth he was meditating upon his regal state 



84 The Prophecies of Daniel 

of self -intelligent rationalism. The master spirit 
spoke and said, Is not this the great wisdom of 
self -intelligent rationalism, which I have built 
for a regal dwelling place, by the might of my own 
power and for the glory of my majesty? While 
the master spirit was giving expression to this 
falsity, there came an influx from heaven, creat- 
ing the perception, — O ruling spirit of inferential 
rationalism, to thee it is spoken; the kingdom is 
departed from thee. And thou shalt be driven 
from life truly human, and thy state of life shall 
be with the affections of the purely natural mind, 
thou shalt be made to subsist on the low percep- 
tions of natural truth which are serviceable to 
the outward affections for helpfulness, and all the 
phases of this unholy state shall pass over thee, 
until thou know that the Most High rules in the 
kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever He 
will. In this very state of mind was the predic- 
tion fulfilled upon the spirit of self- exalting ration- 
alism. He lost his true humanity, and subsisted 
on the low perceptions serviceable to the merely 
natural affections for helpfulness, and his exter- 
nalized mind had only the vaguest perceptions 
of anything spiritual, till his expressions became 
like the expressions of mere comprehensive natural 
thinking, and his love of verifying statements 1 
grew to an abnormal confirming intellect ualism. 
At the completion of these states disclosing the 

1 On the meaning of the nails, see Kip, The Mind and the Body, 
p. 283. 



Humbling of Self- Intelligence 85 

true nature of the intelligence of the proprium, I, 
the ruling spirit of comparing inferential rational- 
ism, lifted my mind to the spiritual things of 
heaven, and my spiritual understanding returned 
to me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised 
and honored Him that is the source of all true 
life; for His dominion is from eternal goodness, 
and His kingdom from everlasting truth, compared 
with Him all human beings are as nothing, and 
He accomplishes His will unrestrainedly among 
the angels of heaven and the inhabitants of the 
earth; and none can stay His power, or control the 
wisdom of His providence. In this uplifted state 
of mind my human understanding returned to me ; 
and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and 
brightness returned to me, and my counselors and 
my great supporters sought me, and I was estab- 
lished in my kingdom, and surpassing greatness was 
added to me. Now I, the spirit of comparing in- 
ferential rationalism, praise and extol and honor 
the King of heaven; for all His works are truth, 
and His ways justice ; and those that walk in pride 
He is able to abase. 

With reference to the future, Nebuchadnezzar 
stands for the rationalistic leaders of the church, 
especially the Roman Catholic Church, who through 
their pride of self-intelligence will attribute all 
their lofty spiritual wisdom to themselves, and 
thereby bring down upon them a judgment from 
on high, reducing the intelligence of the proprium 
to its real proportions, and fully disclosing its 



86 The Prophecies of Daniel 

true nature. When they have learned by bitter 
experience the spiritual insanity produced by 
claiming for the self-intelligence of the natural 
mind the spiritual things of the church and revela- 
tion, and turn their minds upward for spiritual 
enlightenment, then their illustrious human un- 
derstanding will return to them, and their rule 
over the church will be reestablished. 

The inferential rationalistic leaders will salute 
all the various members of the church with a wish 
for much peaceful joy, and will say that it has 
seemed good to them to declare the great confirma- 
tions of the truth and the mighty manifestations 
of experience which God has wrought toward them, 
Whose rule is eternal. 

These leaders will be at ease in their self -intel- 
ligent state of life, and flourishing in their exalted 
frame of mind, when they will receive dim fore- 
bodings of the future and vague mental percep- 
tions which will startle and disturb them. There- 
fore they will summon all their representatives 
of self-wisdom and occultism, that they may 
explain the meaning of these obscure thoughts in 
regard to the revelations of the Bible; but the 
representatives will not perceive the meaning. 
Finally the perceptive element of the New Church, 
who have rational perception on the spiritual- 
natural plane, and who have the enlightenment of 
the true religion, will be requested by these ration- 
alistic leaders to explain the meaning of these dim 
perceptions of the truths of the Bible relating to 



Humbling of Self- Intelligence 87 

the future of their church. Then the rationalistic 
leaders will tell to the perceptive members of the 
New Church their obscure perceptions in regard 
to the meaning of the particulars concerning the 
tree of wisdom mentioned in this chapter of Daniel, 
and will request a clear interpretation of this revela- 
tion of the future, saying, that although all the 
representatives of self -wisdom within their ration- 
alistic church are not able to interpret it truly, 
the perceptive members of the New Church are 
able, for they have the enlightenment of holy 
truths. 

The representatives of the perceptive element 
of the New Church within this rationalistic church, 
who have rational perception on a spiritual- 
natural plane, will be appalled for a while, and 
their thoughts will disturb them; but upon the 
leaders of the church telling them not to be dis- 
turbed by the interpretation and application, 
these representatives will say that the revelation 
has reference to the evil ways of the leaders, and 
the interpretation to their false ideas. "The tree 
of wisdom, of which you read, which grew and was 
powerful, whose -inward elevation reached to the 
spiritual plane of the mind, and its mental exten- 
sion to all the things of the natural mind, whose 
perceptions of truth were fair, and its teachings 
of good many, in which was spiritual food for all, 
under which the affections for doing good dwelt, 
and upon whose broad thoughts the affections 
for spiritual thinking had their habitation, it is 



88 The Prophecies of Daniel 

yourselves, O rulers of the church, who have grown 
and become powerful; for your greatness has 
grown to the spiritual things of the mind and 
heaven, and your dominion to the outermost part 
of the natural plane of the church. And whereas 
you read of a representative of the angels, who 
have the light of spiritual goodness and holy 
truths, coming down from heaven, and saying, 
'Hew down the wisdom, and destroy it; never- 
theless leave its basic sensuous proprium in the 
natural mind, restricted to the outward moral 
perceptions that good is to be done merely be- 
cause of the consequences of evil or simply in 
order to share in heavenly happiness, and to the 
low intelligence of the natural mind with only 
the vaguest perceptions of what is spiritual, and 
let his portion be with the affections of the purely 
natural mind, and let all the phases of this unholy 
state pass over him,' this is the true interpreta- 
tion of the passage, O rulers of the church, and it 
is the decree of judgment of the Most High which 
is come upon my masters, the rulers of the church, 
that you shall lose your true humanity, and your 
states of life shall be with the affections of the 
merely natural mind, and you shall be nourished 
with the low perceptions suitable to the intelli- 
gence of the natural affections for helpfulness, 
and shall have only the most vague and general 
perceptions of what is spiritual, and you shall pass 
through all the phases of this state, until you know 
and acknowledge that the Most High rules in the 



Humbling of Self- Intelligence 89 

religious kingdom of men, and gives it to whom- 
soever He will. And whereas it was commanded 
to leave the sensuous proprium, which is the basis 
of the higher spiritual wisdom, 1 your religious rule 
shall be secure to you after you have learned by 
experience that the spiritual things of heaven 
rule over the natural things of self-intelligence. 
Wherefore, O rulers of the church, let our counsel 
be acceptable to you, and break off your sins by 
righteousness and your iniquities by merciful 
good deeds; then perhaps there may be a length- 
ening of your prosperity.' * 

All this judgment will come upon the future 
rationalistic leaders of the church, especially of 
the Roman Catholic Church. At the time when 
their pride of self -exalting intelligence has reached 
its full growth, and while they are meditating 
upon their regal state of self -intelligent rationalism, 
they will say in themselves, ' ' Is not this the great 
wisdom of self -intelligent rationalism which we 
have constructed for our regal abode by the might 
of our own power and for the glory of our majesty ? ' ' 
While they are giving outward expression to this 
falsity, it will be perceived that judgment from 

1 Swedenborg interprets "the stump of the roots" as meaning 
"the Word, only the letter of which is understood, and which is 
merely something known, held in the memory, and going forth 
therefrom in speech" {Apocalypse Explained, 650 3 1 ); for the 
self -intelligence of the proprium is able to comprehend only the 
most external and literal aspects of the Bible, and is utterly 
incapable of understanding or receiving anything of its spiritual 
meaning. 



9° The Prophecies of Daniel 

heaven is pronounced on these rationalistic rulers 
of the church, and that their religious sovereignty, 
due to their heaven-given wisdom, is departed 
from them; that they will lose their truly human 
life, and live a life of purely natural affection, 
their minds being nourished by the low percep- 
tions suitable for the natural affections for being 
helpful; and that they will pass through all the 
phases of this state until its unholy nature is fully 
disclosed, and until they know and acknowledge 
that they rule over the church because of the spiri- 
tual gifts of God, and not because of any superior 
intelligence of their own. In this self -exalted 
state of mind will the predicted judgment be 
fulfilled upon the rationalistic leaders of the church, 
who will lose their true humanity, subsist on the 
low perceptions suitable for the natural affections 
for helpfulness, and possess only the most general 
perceptions of what is spiritual, until their expres- 
sions will become like the expressions of mere 
comprehensive natural thinking, and their love 
for verifying statements grow to an abnormal 
confirming intellectualism. 

At the conclusion of these outward states of the 
proprium, the rationalistic leaders of the church 
will elevate their minds to the spiritual light of 
heaven, and their human understanding will re- 
turn to them, and they will bless and praise and 
honor the Lord as the source of all true life and 
lasting rule, in comparison with Whom all human 
beings are as nothing, and Who accomplishes His 



Humbling of Self- Intelligence 9 1 

will unrestrainedly in heaven and on earth. Then 
their spiritual understandings will return to them ; 
and for the glory of their religious rule their stately 
and splendid wisdom will be restored, and their 
chief supporters will seek them again, and they 
will be established in their religious kingdom, and 
surpassing greatness will be added to them. There- 
fore these rationalistic leaders will praise and extol 
and honor the King of heaven; for all His works 
are truth, and His ways justice, and those that 
walk in pride He is able to abase. 



THE PROFANATION OF HOLY THINGS 1 

AS Nebuchadnezzar was the personification of 
the pride of self -intelligence, so Belshazzar, 
by reason of his impious act of making a profane 
use of the holy vessels of Jehovah's temple, 
became the personification of profaneness. Bel- 
shazzar therefore stands for the spirit of inferen- 
tial rationalism that profanes holy truths by 
applying them to confirm the false reasonings of 
self -derived intelligence. 

Darius the Mede, mentioned in the thirty-first 
verse of this chapter, is an unknown personage, 
and it seems probable that, owing to some confu- 
sion of history in the mind of the author of Daniel, 
he has made the Median empire, which was con- 
temporaneous with the Babylonian empire, to suc- 
ceed the latter under a fictitious ruler. B abylon and 
its empire was conquered by Cyrus, king of Persia, 
and not by the Medes, nor so far as is known was 
there any Median king of this period named Darius. 
But as it is the evident intention of the author of 
Daniel that Darius the Mede should represent 
the whole Median empire just as Nebuchadnezzar 
represents the Babylonian empire, therefore this 

1 Comprising Daniel v., 1-31. 
92 



The Profanation of Holy Things 93 

course has been followed in the present volume. 
As ancient Media occupied the northern part of 
the present country of Persia, which country cor- 
responds to the imagination, 1 therefore Media 
corresponds to the intellectual imagination and 
its ideals; and Darius, who is represented as its 
king, stands for the ruling spirit of such intel- 
lectual imaginative ideals. Although Media did 
not rule over Babylonia at this time, it did rule 
over Assyria; and as Assyria corresponds to the 
reason, and Babylonia to rational inference, no 
great difference in the spiritual meaning is occa- 
sioned by unhistorically regarding Media as 
ruling over Babylon. No doubt the correspon- 
dential description of the self -intelligence of the 
race in the past and the future necessitated the 
use of Babylon in this connection, for Babylon 
corresponds to self -intelligence. 

The ruling spirit of profaning inferential ration- 
alism sought to communicate his system of ra- 
tionalistic ideas to his many chief supporters, and 
confirmed his false theories before them. The 
ruling spirit of profaning inferential rationalism, 
while he was in the naturalistic perception of this 
confirmation, commanded to bring the good and 
true things of the literal sense of the Bible which 
the spirit of comparing inferential rationalism, 
from whom he had developed, had taken out of 
their proper connection and conjunction with 
the interior meaning of the Bible known to those 

1 Kip, Psychology of the Nations, pp. 51-53. 



94 The Prophecies of Daniel 

who acknowledge Jehovah as the only God, in 
order that this profane ruling spirit, his chief 
supporters, and the receptive minds conjoined 
with him by their love for his inward and outward 
rationalism, might use these holy things to confirm 
their own rationalistic, self-intelligent falsities. 
Then they brought the good literal things which 
were taken out of their conjunction with the 
interior meaning of the Bible known to those who 
acknowledge Jehovah as the only God; and the 
profane ruling spirit, his chief supporters, and 
the receptive minds conjoined with him by their 
love for his inward and outward rationalism, 
confirmed their false reasonings by means of them. 
They confirmed their false reasonings, and extolled, 
as being taught by the Bible, their rationalistic 
self -intelligent doctrines which falsify the teachings 
of the Bible in regard to the Divine goodness, the 
Divine truth, salvation, the punishment of evil, 
good works, and faith. 

In this profane state of mind in the youthful 
religious consciousness of the race became manifest 
the prophecies of judgment of the Bible, which 
were perceived, from what spiritual enlightenment 
remained, to apply to this inward profane state of 
life in the ruling spirit of the age; and the ruling 
spirit remembered the prophecy pertaining to 
him. Then the ruling spirit's intellectual bright- 
ness was changed in him, and his thoughts dis- 
turbed him; and the joinings which he had made 
of holy good with evil became loosened, and his 



The Profanation of Holy Things 95 

adaptations of religious truth to falsity were 
shaken. The ruling spirit cried aloud to bring 
in the representatives of rationalistic occultism. 
The ruling spirit spoke and said to these repre- 
sentatives of rational self-wisdom, Whosoever 
shall perceive the application of this prophecy of 
judgment, and declare to me its interpretation, 
shall be acknowledged to possess wise perception, 
to be able from spiritual goodness to apply truly 
the inward things of revelation to conditions in 
the church, and to have the right by virtue of wise 
perception to share in the rule over the kingdom 
of rationalism. Then came in all the ruling spirit's 
representatives of self -wisdom; but they could 
not perceive the application, nor make known to 
the ruling spirit the interpretation. Then was 
the ruling spirit of profane inferential rationalism 
greatly disturbed, and his intellectual brilliancy 
forsook him, and his chief supporters were per- 
plexed. 

Now the ruling spirit of receptive love for ration- 
alistic wisdom, by reason of the words of the ruling 
perceptive spirit of profaning rationalism and his 
chief supporters, came into the place where these 
false reasonings were being communicated and 
received. The ruling spirit of receptive love for 
rationalistic wisdom spoke and said, O king of 
rationalism, live for ever: let not thy thoughts 
disturb thee, nor let thine intellectual brilliancy be 
changed. There is a man in thy kingdom in 
whom is the spirit of holy Divine truths; and, in 



9 6 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the earlier rationalistic religious states of the race 
from which you originated, light and understand- 
ing and wisdom, like wisdom derived from Divine 
truths, were found in him; and the previous ruling 
spirit of comparing inferential rationalism, from 
whom you have descended, made him chief of those 
who are versed in spiritual and occult knowledge, 
forasmuch as a surpassing spirit, and knowledge, 
and understanding, interpreting of predictions of 
the future, declaring of symbolic sayings, and ex- 
plaining of difficult problems were found in this 
perceptive representative claiming the true religion, 
to whom the previous spirit of rationalism impart- 
ed a rational quality of a spiritual-natural nature. 
Now let this perceptive representative claiming the 
true religion be called, and he will declare the inter- 
pretation of the prophetic judgments of the Bible. 
Then was the representative of the perceptive 
true church brought in before the ruling spirit. 
The ruling spirit spoke and said to the perceptive 
representative of the true religion, Art thou that 
perceptive representative of the members of the 
captive emotional church whom the past ruling 
spirit of comparing inferential rationalism, from 
whom I am descended, brought out of that emo- 
tional church which claimed to have the true 
religion? I have heard of thee that the spirit of 
Divine truths is in thee, and that light and under- 
standing and surpassing wisdom are found in 
thee. And now the rational representatives of 
self -wisdom and occultism have been brought 



The Profanation of Holy Things 97 

in before me, that they should perceive the appli- 
cation of this prophetic judgment, and make 
known to me its interpretation; but they could 
not declare the interpretation of the prophecy. 
But I have heard of thee that thou canst give 
true interpretations and explain difficult problems ; 
now if thou canst perceive the application of this 
prophetic judgment, and make known to me its 
interpretation, thou shalt be acknowledged to 
possess wise perception, to be able from spiritual 
goodness to apply truly the inward things of 
revelation to outward conditions, and to have 
the right by virtue of wise perception to share in 
the rule of the kingdom of rationalism. 

Then the representative of the perceptive ele- 
ment of the true church answered and said before 
the profane ruling spirit, Keep thy honors, and 
give thy rewards to another; nevertheless I will 
explain to the ruling spirit the application of the 
prophetic judgment, and make known to him the 
interpretation. O thou ruling spirit of profane 
inferential rationalism, the Most High God gave 
the spirit of comparing rational inference, who 
was your progenitor, the kingdom, and greatness 
and glory and majesty; and because of the great- 
ness that He gave him all intellectual, emotional, 
and cognizant elements respected and revered him ; 
he treated as evil and false what he would, and 
established as good and true what he would, and 
he made essential what he would, and made un- 
essential what he would. But when his heart 



98 The Prophecies of Daniel 

became self-exalted, and his mind was hardened 
so that he thought from the pride of self -intelli- 
gence, he was deposed from his lofty rule of com- 
prehensive judgment, and his glory was taken 
from him. He lost his true humanity, and was 
inspired with purely natural affections, and his 
state of life was with perverse naturalistic affec- 
tions for understanding mere details; his mind 
was nourished with low thoughts suitable to the 
intelligence of merely natural affections for help- 
fulness, and he had only the vaguest perceptions 
of anything spiritual, until he knew and acknowl- 
edged that the Most High God rules in the kingdom 
of men, and that He sets up over it whomsoever 
He will. And thou, his descendant, spirit of 
profaning rationalism, hast not humbled thy heart, 
although thou knewest all this, but hast lifted up 
thyself against the Lord of heaven ; and they have 
brought the literal truths of the Word before thee, 
and thou, thy chief supporters, and the receptive 
minds conjoined with thee by love for thy inward 
and outward rationalism have confirmed thy false 
theories by means of them ; and thou hast extolled, 
as proved by the Bible, thy rationalistic, self-in- 
telligent doctrines, which are destitute of all truth 
and good and living knowledge, and which falsify 
the teachings of the Word in regard to the Di- 
vine goodness, the Divine truth, salvation, the 
punishment of evil, good works, and faith; and 
the real teachings of God, from the knowledge of 
which is all true thought, and from the living of 



The Profanation of Holy Things 99 

which comes all good life, thou hast not glorified. 
Then was the remembrance of His prophetic 
judgments evoked by Him, and the application 
of this particular prophecy made manifest. And 
this is the prophecy which was manifestly made 
applicable: " Numbered, numbered, weighed, and 
divided." 1 This is the interpretation of the pro- 
phecy. Numbered: God has examined the intel- 
lectual nature of thy rationalistic kingdom, and 
brought it to an end ; weighed : thou art judged as 
to goodness of life, and found wanting; divided: 
thy kingdom is consummated, and given to the in- 
tellectual and emotional ideals of the imagination. 
Then commanded the profaning spirit of infer- 
ential rationalism, and they acknowledged the 
representative of the perceptive element of the 
true church to possess wise perception, and to 
have the ability from spiritual goodness to apply 
truly the things of revelation to outward condi- 
tions, and they made proclamation concerning him 
that by virtue of wise perception he should share 
in the rule over the kingdom of rationalism. 

1 Some Biblical scholars understand the words, "Mene, mene, 
tekel, upharsin (or peres) " to be Aramaic for "a mina, a mina, 
a shekel, and a half mina," which are certain Hebrew weights. 
If this view is correct, these words perhaps contain a reference 
to the "time, and times, and half a time," of Daniel and the 
Apocalypse, a mina being equivalent to a time, a mina and a 
shekel to times, and half a mina to half a time. Therefore the 
words may spiritually connote that the time of final judgment at 
the completion of this period of consummation has now arrived. 
But such interpretation would appropriately apply only to the 
church of the future. 



ioo The Prophecies of Daniel 

In that state of spiritual darkness the ruling 
spirit of profaning inferential rationalism died 
out; and the spirit of intellectual imaginative 
ideals and doctrines, which had attained to a state 
of thoughtfulness in regard to literal religious 
knowledge, 1 became dominant in the youthful 
religious mind of the race. 

With reference to the future, Belshazzar stands 
for the leaders of the church, especially the Roman 
Catholic Church, who will adulterate and profane 
the holy truths of the Bible by employing them, 
to confirm^ their own false, self-intelligent doc- 
trines. In the third chapter of Daniel the leaders 
of the Babylonish church of the future are repre- 
sented as inventing a fictitious idea of God for 
the worship of the members of their church; in 
the fourth chapter they are depicted as claiming 
for their own, through the pride of self -intelligence, 
the spiritual things of heaven and the Lord, and 
seeking to rule by means of them ; and now in this 
fifth chapter they are described as utterly profan- 
ing the holy truths of the Bible by applying them 
to confirm their own falsities and evils. This 
last state of the Babylonish church of the future 

1 In a general way, the first thirty-year period of human life 
corresponds to feeling and perception, the second to thought, 
the third to knowledge, and the fourth to expression. The year 
62 comes under the third division of knowledge, and two corre- 
sponds to thought. The number sixty can also be interpreted 
as meaning all things of good and truths, and two as thought 
concerning them. Swedenborg explains sixty-two as meaning 
" the marriage of truth with a little good '■' (A. E. 6843?). 



The Profanation of Holy Things 101 

will be the partial end and night of the Christian 
Church, when all heavenly good and truth will have 
perished from it. The Lord's church, we are told, 
becomes a Babylon at its end; and the process of 
the final consummation of the corrupt and decrepit 
church, after it has reached this Babylonish stage, 
is excellently described by Swedenborg : 

"Babylon means the church consisting of those 
who by means of the holy things of the church 
strive to gain dominion over the whole world, and 
this by ruling over the souls of men, claiming to 
themselves power to save whomsoever they will; 
and these finally seek dominion over heaven and 
hell and make it their own. And to this end they 
draw and convey to themselves all the Lord's 
power, as if it had been given them by Him. The 
church consisting of such is very different in the 
beginning from what it becomes in process of time. 
In the beginning they are seemingly zealous for 
the Lord, for the Word, for love and faith, and 
especially for the salvation of men. But in that 
zeal the fire of ruling lies hidden, and in process 
of time as dominion increases this breaks forth; 
and so far as it comes out into act the holy things 
of the church become the means, and dominion 
itself the end; and when dominion becomes the 
end the holy things of the church are devoted to 
that end, and thus to themselves; and then they 
not only ascribe the salvation of souls to their 
own power, but they also make their own all the 
Lord's Divine power. And when they do this 



102 The Prophecies of Daniel 

they pervert every good and every truth of the 
church, and thus profane the holy things of the 
church." 1 

Swedenborg also informs us what the future 
Christian Church will become after its final con- 
summation as a spiritual Babylon: 

' ' Babylon in its end is a church empty and void 
of all good of love to God, and of all good of love 
toward the neighbor, and consequently of all 
truth. It is therefore no longer a church, but 
only an idolatry, and as such it differs but little 
from the heathenisms of the ancients, who wor- 
shiped Baal, Ashtaroth, Beelzebub, and others, 
and yet had temples, appointed feasts, sacrifices, 
incense, libations, and other things like those of 
the Jewish Church. . . . The church of the 
Lord gradually becomes a Babylon; and as it 
becomes a Babylon so it is devastated in respect 
to all good of love and all truth of faith ; and this 
is its end, that is, it is no longer a church; and 
when it is no longer a church it is reckoned among 
the idolatrous nations, except those in it who 
worship the Lord, regard the Word as holy, and 
accept instruction from it." 2 

The future profaning rationalistic leaders of 
the church, represented by Belshazzar, will seek 
to promulgate their great system of false inferen- 
tial rationalism among their many chief supporters, 
and will confirm their false theories before them. 

1 Apocalypse Explained, 1029. 

2 Ibid. 



The Profanation of Holy Things 103 

While they are in the naturalistic perception of 
this confirmation, they will bring to mind the holy 
good and true things of the literal sense of the 
Bible, which a former age of perverse comparing 
rationalism had taken away from their proper 
connection and conjunction with the interior 
meaning of the Word known to those who acknowl- 
edge the Lord as the only God, in order that they, 
their chief supporters, and the receptive minds 
conjoined with them by love for the inward and 
outward aspects of their rationalism may confirm 
their false rationalistic doctrines by means of 
these holy things. So they will confirm their 
self -intelligent, rationalistic views; and they will 
extol, as proved by the Bible, their doctrines which 
falsify the Biblical teachings in regard to the 
Divine goodness, the Divine truth, salvation, the 
punishment of evil, good works, and faith. 

In this profane state of the church will become 
manifest the prophecies of judgment of the Bible, 
and it will be perceived, from what spiritual light 
is left in the church, that these prophecies apply 
to the inward profane state then prevailing; and 
the profane leaders of the church will remember 
the prophecy applied to them. Then the intel- 
lectual brilliancy of the leaders of the church will 
desert them, and their thoughts will disturb them; 
and their profane joinings of holy good to evil 
will be loosened, and their adaptations of religious 
truth to falsity will be shaken. The leaders of 
the church will summon all their representatives 



104 The Prophecies of Daniel 

of occult rationalism, and will promise to these 
representatives of self-wisdom that whoever can 
perceive the application of the Biblical prophecy, 
and declare its interpretation, shall be acknowl- 
edged to possess wise perception, to be able from 
spiritual goodness to apply truly the inward things 
of revelation to outward conditions, and to have 
the right by virtue of perceptive wisdom to share 
in the rule over the church. But these represen- 
tatives of self -wisdom will not be able to perceive 
the application, nor to make known the interpreta- 
tion to the profaning rationalistic leaders of the 
church, who will then become greatly disturbed, 
and will lose their intellectual brilliancy, and their 
chief supporters will be perplexed. 

Then the subordinate rulers of the church, who 
are of a receptive disposition, will come forward 
because of the perplexity of the leaders and their 
chief supporters in regard to Scriptural interpreta- 
tion, and will tell them not to be disturbed, nor 
let their brilliant minds be downcast, for there 
are within the church those in whom is the spirit 
of holy Divine truths, and in the days of their 
predecessors godlike light and understanding and 
wisdom were found in them; and the comparing 
rationalistic leaders of an earlier age of the church 
made them chief of those who are versed in spiri- 
tual and occult knowledge, because a surpassing 
spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, inter- 
preting of predictions of the future, declaring 
symbolic sayings, and explaining of difficult 



The Profanation of Holy Things 105 

problems were found in these representatives of 
the perceptive element of the New Church, who 
had developed from the rationalism of the times 
a spiritual rationality on the natural plane. 
Therefore these subordinate, receptive rulers will 
request that the representatives of the perceptive 
element of the New Church be summoned, stating 
that they will declare the desired interpretation. 

When these perceptive representatives of the 
New Church are brought before the profane lead- 
ers of the church, the leaders will ask them whether 
they are the perceptive representatives belonging 
to the emotional, reverential church whom the 
comparing rationalistic leaders of the earlier age 
of the church had brought into captivity to ra- 
tionalism, saying they have heard of these rep- 
resentatives that they have perception from 
Divine truths and possess spiritual understanding 
and surpassing wisdom. The profane rational- 
istic leaders will state that their own represen- 
tatives of self -wisdom and occultism have been 
consulted to ascertain whether they could per- 
ceive the application of Biblical prophecy and 
make known its interpretation, but they could 
not declare the interpretation of the prophecy, 
but that they have heard the perceptive re- 
presentatives of the New Church could give 
true interpretations of Scriptural prophecy and 
explain difficult problems of theology; and that 
if they are able to perceive the application of the 
Biblical prophecy in question and make known 



106 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the interpretation, these representatives shall be 
acknowledged to possess wise perception, to be 
able from spiritual goodness to apply truly the 
inward things of revelation to conditions in the 
religious world, and to have the right by virtue 
of wise perception to share in the rule over the 
rationalistic church. 

Then the representatives of the perceptive 
element of the New Church will answer and say 
to the profaning leaders of the church, "Keep 
your honors, and give your marks of esteem to 
others; nevertheless we will explain the applica- 
tion of the Biblical prophecy in question, and will 
make known to you the interpretation. you 
leaders of the church, the Lord gave the comparing 
rationalistic leaders of the church who preceded 
you the rule over the church, and greatness and 
glory and majesty, and because of the greatness 
which He gave them all the intellectual, emotional, 
and cognizant elements of the church held them 
in great respect and reverence; they treated as 
evil and false what they would, and established 
as good and true what they would, and they made 
essential or unessential whatever they would. 
But when their wills became self-exalted, and 
their minds were hardened so that they thought 
from the pride of self -intelligence, they were de- 
posed from their leadership which they owed to 
their comprehensive judgment, and their glory 
departed from them; they lost their true humanity 
and were inspired with purely natural affections, 



The Profanation of Holy Things 107 

and their states of life were with perverse natural- 
istic affections for understanding mere details; 
they subsisted on the low thoughts suitable for 
the intelligence of the merely natural affections for 
helpfulness, and had only the vaguest perceptions 
of anything spiritual, until they knew and acknowl- 
edged that the Lord rules in the kingdom of the 
church, and that He sets up over it whomsoever 
He will. And you, profaning leaders, the succes- 
sors of these comparing rationalistic rulers, have 
not humbled your wills, although you knew all 
this, but have lifted up yourselves against the Lord 
of heaven; and you have collected the literal 
truths of His Word, and you and your chief sup- 
porters, as well as the receptive minds conjoined 
with you by their love for your inward and outward 
rationalism, have confirmed your false rationalistic 
theories by means of these holy truths; and you 
have extolled, as authenticated by the Bible, your 
self -intelligent doctrines, which are destitute of all 
good and truth and living knowledge, and which 
falsify the Biblical teachings in regard to the Divine 
goodness, the Divine truth, salvation, the punish- 
ment of evil, good works, and faith; and the real 
teachings of God, from the knowledge of which 
is all true thought, and from the living of which 
comes all good life, you have not glorified. Then 
was the remembrance of the Biblical prophecies 
of judgment called forth by Him, and the applica- 
tion of this particular prophecy made manifest. 
This is the interpretation of the prophecy which 



108 The Prophecies of Daniel 

manifestly applies to you : ' Numbered, ' God has 
examined the intellectual nature of your rational- 
istic church, and has brought it to an end; 
'weighed, ' you are judged as to goodness of life, 
and found wanting; 'divided,' your rationalistic 
church, which is the logical successor of the former 
fanciful church based on the false doctrines of 
intellectual and emotional imagination, is now 
utterly consummated." 

Then, at the command of the profaning ration- 
alistic leaders of the church, these perceptive repre- 
sentatives of the New Church will be acknowledged 
to possess wise perception, and to be able from 
spiritual goodness to apply truly the inward things 
of revelation to conditions in the religious world, 
and the right of their perceptive wisdom to share 
in the rule over the church will be proclaimed. 

In this night of spiritual darkness, due to the 
adulteration and profanation of the goods and 
truths of the Bible, this rationalistic church and 
its profane, inferential leaders, who have succeeded 
a fanciful church of intellectual imaginative doc- 
trines founded on a thoughtful interpretation of 
the literal sense of the Bible, will lose every ele- 
ment of heavenly goodness and truth, and so be 
at a complete end. 



THE DEIFICATION OF HUMANITY IN THE 
CHURCH 1 

THIS chapter describes the desire to rule over 
holy things by assuming Divine authority 
which characterized the church during the intel- 
lectual imaginative period of its youthful growth; 
for although the Medes and Persians conquered 
Babylon, they fell, through the very possession 
of it, into the same profane worship and assumption 
of Divine power that spring from the self-love of 
the proprium, which Babylon denotes. 2 

It pleased the intellectual imaginative ruler 
of the church in its youth to set over the religious 
kingdom a complete variety of lesser rulers, who 
should be over the whole church, and over them 
three general officers, of whom the representative 
of the perceptive element of the true church was 
one; that these lesser rulers might give to them 
an account of the proceedings within the church, 
and that the ruling spirit should not be misin- 
formed. Then this representative of the per- 
ceptive element of the true church was distin- 
guished above the general officers and the lesser 

1 Comprising Daniel vi., 1-28. 

2 Heavenly Arcana, 1326. 

109 



no The Prophecies of Daniel 

rulers, because a surpassing spirit of wisdom was 
in him, and the ruling spirit thought to set him 
over the whole realm. 

Then the general officers and the lesser rulers 
sought to find occasion for complaint against the 
representative of the perceptive element of the 
true church concerning the administration of 
the religious kingdom; but they could find no oc- 
casion nor fault, forasmuch as he was faithful, 
neither was there any error or fault found in him. 
Then said these men, We shall not find any oc- 
casion for complaint against this representative of 
the perceptive element claiming to have the true 
religion unless we find it against him concerning 
the tenets of his religion. Then these general 
officers and lesser rulers came thronging to the 
ruling spirit, and said thus to him, O king of 
intellectual imaginative ideals and teachings, 
may thy reign be lasting. All the general officers 
of the kingdom, and all the lesser rulers and offi- 
cers, have consulted together to establish an 
authoritative decree, and to make a strong inter- 
dict, that whosoever shall recognize, .during the 
whole time the question is under discussion, any 
authority Divine or human as superior to thine 
own, O ruling spirit, shall be condemned to the 
dominion of infernal falsities. Now, O ruling 
spirit, establish the interdict, and make valid the 
decree, that it be not changed, according to the 
established usage of our church of intellectual and 
emotional imagination, which does not alter. 



The Deification of Humanity m 

Wherefore the ruling spirit of intellectual imagi- 
native ideals and doctrines made valid the decree 
and the interdict. 

And when the representative of the perceptive 
element of the true church knew that the decree 
was made valid, he retired into his own state of 
life (now his inward mind was enlightened by- 
being open to the acknowledgment and worship 
of Jehovah as the only God) ; and he adored with 
genuine humiliation, and prayed, and gave thanks 
before his God, as he did aforetime. Then these 
men came thronging, and found the representative 
of the perceptive element of the true church 
acknowledging the infinite superiority of his God 
and making supplication before Him. Then they 
came near, and spoke before the ruling spirit 
concerning the ruling spirit's interdict: Hast 
thou not given validity to an interdict, that every 
man that shall recognize, during all the time that 
the question is under discussion, any authority 
Divine or human as superior to thine own, rul- 
ing spirit, shall be condemned to the dominion of 
infernal falsities? The king answered and said, 
The thing is true, according to the established 
usage of our intellectual and emotional church of 
the imagination, which .does not alter. Then 
answered they and said before the ruling spirit, 
That representative of the perceptive element 
claiming to have the true religion, but in captivity 
to our imaginative doctrines, regards not thee, 
O ruling spirit, nor the interdict that thou hast 



ii2 The Prophecies of Daniel 

made valid, but acknowledges the Divine author- 
ity as absolutely superior. Then the ruling 
spirit, when he heard these words, was sorely 
displeased, and set his heart on the representative 
of the perceptive element of the true church to 
deliver him; and he labored until the light of the 
Divine presence was extinguished in the church 
to rescue him. Then these men came thronging 
to the ruling spirit, and said to the ruling spirit, 
Know, King, that it is an established usage of 
our intellectual and emotional church of imagina- 
tive doctrines that no interdict or decree which 
the ruling spirit establishes may be changed. 

Then the ruling spirit commanded, and they 
brought forward the representative of the per- 
ceptive element of the true church, and condemned 
him to the dominion of infernal falsities. Now 
the ruling spirit spoke and said to the representa- 
tive of the perceptive element of the true church, 
Thy God Whom thou servest continually, He will 
deliver thee. And a false doctrinal idea was 
brought forward, and made to apply to and 
justify this condemnation, and the ruling spirit 
confirmed the condemnation by the expression of 
his own thought and the thought of his chief sup- 
porters, that no one might venture to change this 
condemnation of the representative of the per- 
ceptive element of the true church. Then the 
ruling spirit retired to his own sumptuous state 
of living, and mourned because of the deprivation 
of good and truth in the darkened state of the 



The Deification of Humanity 113 

church. No diversions springing from the harmony 
of pleasant feelings were afforded to him, and his 
peace of mind fled from him. 

Then the ruling spirit in a state of dawning 
enlightenment was anxious to see the result of 
this stern condemnation to the dominion of infer- 
nal falsities. And when he came near to the 
state of condemnation to which the representative 
of the perceptive element of the true church had 
been consigned, he cried with a lamentable voice; 
the ruling spirit spoke and said to the representa- 
tive of the perceptive element of the true church, 
O representative of the perceptive true church, 
servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou 
servest continually, able to deliver thee from these 
dreadful falsities? Then said the representative 
of the perceptive element of the true church to 
the ruling spirit, O king, live forever. My God 
has sent his Divine influence, and has silenced 
the arguments of these direful falsities, and they 
have not hurt me; forasmuch as before Him 
innocency was found in me, and also before thee, 
O ruling spirit, have I done no hurt. Then was 
the ruling spirit exceedingly glad, and commanded 
that they should release the representative of the 
perceptive element of the. true church from their 
condemnation.. So the representative of the 
perceptive element of the true church was re- 
leased from the condemnation, and no manner of 
hurt was found upon him, because he had trusted 
in his God. 



1 14 The Prophecies of Daniel 

And the ruling spirit commanded, and they 
brought forward those men who had accused 
the representative of the perceptive element of 
the true church, and they condemned them to the 
dominion of infernal falsities, them, the individuals 
who represented developments of their theories, 
and the persons who were conjoined with them by 
receptive love of their views; and the infernal 
falsities had dominion over them, and destroyed 
the very foundations of their spiritual life before 
ever they came to the full depths of the abode of 
dire falsities. 

Then the ruling spirit of intellectual imaginative 
doctrines declared to all the intellectual, emotional, 
and cognizant elements throughout the church: 
Peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that 
in all the dominion of my religious kingdom men 
reverence and venerate the God of the representa- 
tive of the perceptive true church; for He is the 
living God, and steadfast forever, and His king- 
dom that which shall not be destroyed, and His 
dominion shall be even to the end; He delivers 
and rescues, and He gives confirmations and mani- 
festations in heaven and in the church, Who has 
delivered the representative of the perceptive true 
church from the power of dominating falsities. 
So this representative of the perceptive element 
of the true church gained many new states of 
goodness and wisdom during the reign of intel- 
lectual imagination in the church and during the 
reign of emotional imagination in the church. 



The Deification of Humanity 115 

In the church of the future, Darius and his 
kingdom stand for the reawakened period of 
intellectual imaginative thought and doctrines 
through which the Christian Church will pass at 
its end, when it will prefer the falsities of its own 
imaginative thinking to the true teachings of the 
Bible as revealed in the doctrines of the New 
Church; and as the Semitic kings of Babylon 
spoken of in Daniel seem to represent especially 
the Roman Catholic Church, so Darius the Mede 
and his kingdom seems to represent especially 
the Protestant Church — both in the death grasp 
of the consummating Babylon of self -exaltation 
and self -intelligence. The present chapter seems 
to predict a future phase in the spiritual condition 
of the Christian Church, especially in its Protes- 
tant branch, when through pantheistic tendencies 
or otherwise the deification of humanity will be 
rampant within it, and when there will occur an 
exaltation of the ideas of merely human conscious- 
ness and the naturalistic teachings of the clergy 
over the revealed Word of God At such a time 
the supreme authority of the leaders of the church 
in the interpretation of the Bible will be emphati- 
cally insisted on, and all who refuse to accept their 
teachings as final on religious subjects will be 
threatened with a lapse into the most baneful 
errors and falsities, which is like the den of lions 
into which Daniel was cast for refusing to acknowl- 
edge Darius as superior to God Himself. 

In the future, it will please the intellectual 



n6 The Prophecies of Daniel 

imaginative leaders of the church to set over their 
whole religious kingdom a complete representative 
variety of lesser rulers, and over them three general 
officers, of whom a representative of the perceptive 
element of the New Church will be one, in order 
that these rulers may keep them acquainted with 
the proceedings within the church, and that the 
leaders of the church may not be misinformed. 
This representative of the perceptive element 
of the New Church will be distinguished above all 
the others because of his great spiritual wisdom, 
and the leader or leaders of the church will consider 
putting him over the whole realm. 

Then these general officers and lesser rulers 
will seek to find some charge against the repre- 
sentative of the perceptive New Church in regard 
to his administration of affairs, but they will find 
no occasion for complaint, because he will be 
found faithful to his duties. Then these men will 
agree that they will not be able to find any charge 
against this representative of the perceptive ele- 
ment of the New Church except in regard to his 
religious views. All these general and lesser 
officers of the church will therefore plan together 
to have the leaders of the church promulgate in a 
public and an emphatic way, so that they will be 
very loath to change their declaration, the doc- 
trine that the authority of the leaders of the church 
is superior to any other authority, especially in 
the interpretation of the Bible, and that whoever 
shall recognize any authority as higher than theirs 



The Deification of Humanity 117 

shall be condemned to the domination of infernal 
falsities. This plan will succeed and the doctrine 
will be promulgated by the leaders of the church. 
When the representative or representatives of the 
perceptive element of the New Church learn of 
the firm attitude of the church leaders, they will 
retire into their own state of life, the interiors of 
which will be illumined by the acknowledgment of 
the Lord as the only God of heaven and earth, 
and will worship the Lord as supreme and His 
Word as the final authority. When this supreme 
worship of the Lord and the truths of His Word as 
revealed in the doctrines of the New Church is 
perceived by the enemies of the representative of 
the New Church, they will ask the leaders of their 
church whether they have not irrevocably estab- 
lished the doctrine that everyone who recognizes 
any other authority as superior to theirs shall be 
condemned to the dominion of infernal falsities ; and 
upon the leaders of the church acknowledging that 
such is the case, they will make the charge that 
the representative or representatives of the New 
Church under the rule of their imaginative church 
pay no attention to the leaders of the church, 
nor to the doctrine of Divine authority which 
they have put forth, but that they recognize the 
Lord and His Word alone as supreme. The 
leaders of the Christian Church will be very sorry 
when they hear this, and will endeavor, as long as 
the light of the Divine presence remains in the 
darkening state of the church, to deliver and 



n8 The Prophecies of Daniel 

rescue the representative of the perceptive ele- 
ment of the New Church from the condemnation. 
But on being reminded by the enemies of the New 
Church that they have emphatically and irrevo- 
cably promulgated this doctrine, the leaders will 
command the condemnation to be pronounced, 
and the enemies of the New Church will condemn 
its representatives to the dominion of infernal 
falsities. Yet the leaders of the Christian Church 
will seek to cheer the representatives of the New 
Church with the assurance that their Lord, Whom 
they serve* continually, will deliver them. Then 
some false doctrine drawn from the literal sense 
of the Bible will be adduced and applied in justi- 
fication of the condemnation; and the leaders of 
the church will confirm the condemnation with 
their own interpretation of the Bible and with 
that of their chief supporters, that no one may 
venture to change the condemnation. Then the 
leaders of the church will retire to their own 
state of life, and will mourn the passing away of 
goodness and truth from the church at its end; 
and their usual pleasant diversions will be aban- 
doned and their peace of mind will leave them. 

In a state of dawning enlightenment the leaders 
of the future Christian Church will be anxious 
to see what effect the public condemnation has 
had upon the representative or representatives of 
the New Church, and will ask with grief whether 
the Lord of the representatives of the New Church, 
Whom they serve continually, has been able to 



The Deification of Humanity 119 

deliver them from their condemnation by the 
church. Then the representatives of the New 
Church will reply that their Lord has sent His 
Divine presence, and has silenced the arguments 
of the infernal falsities, which have not hurt them, 
because they were innocent of any evil or falsity. 
Then the leaders of the church will be very glad, 
and will command that the opprobrium of con- 
demnation be lifted from the representatives of 
the New Church ; and no manner of injury will be 
found in them, because they had trusted in their 
God. 

The leaders of the church will then command, 
and the enemies of the New Church who accused 
its representatives will be condemned to the do- 
minion of infernal falsities, they, the individuals 
who represent developments of their theories, and 
the persons who are conjoined with them by a 
receptive love of their false views; and the falsi- 
ties of hell will have dominion over them, and will 
destroy the very foundations of their spiritual life 
even before the full depth of these dire infernal 
falsities is reached. 

Then the leaders of the Christian Church will 
announce to all the various elements within their 
church that all should reverence and venerate the 
Lord as revealed in the doctrines of the New 
Church; for He is the living God and steadfast 
forever, and His kingdom and dominion are eter- 
nal. He delivers and rescues, and gives confirma- 
tions of truth and manifestations of power in 



120 The Prophecies of Daniel 

heaven and in the church, and He has delivered 
the representative of the perceptive New Church 
from the domination of infernal falsities. So the 
representative of the perceptive element of the 
New Church will gain many new states of good- 
ness and wisdom during the supremacy of intel- 
lectual and emotional imagination in the future 
Christian Church. 



FALSE SYSTEMS OF INTELLECTUAL 
DOCTRINE 1 

THE four beasts of this chapter, as well as the 
four parts of the image mentioned in the 
second chapter, represent the four ancient empires 
of Babylonia, Media, Persia, and Macedonia, and 
correspondentially portray their psychological char- 
acteristics; but the image of the second chapter 
gives prominence to their emotional side as doc- 
trines of life, while the beasts of this chapter pre- 
sent especially their intellectual side as doctrines of 
truth. Babylonia corresponds to inferential ration- 
ality, Media to intellectual imagination, Persia to 
emotional imagination, and Macedonia to faith. 
Macedonia properly corresponds to faith in God's 
power to do His will, the whole faculty of faith being 
represented by Turkey and the other Balkan States, 
including Macedonia 2 ; but it may be regarded 
as corresponding in a general way to faith. The 
beast like a lion, when it had eagle's wings, seems 
to represent the Babylonian empire under Nebu- 
chadnezzar and his Chaldean successors; whereas 
the lion when deprived of its wings, made to stand 

1 Comprising Daniel vii., 1-28. 

2 Kip, Psychology of the Nations, pp. 133-135. 

121 



122 The Prophecies of Daniel 

upon its feet like a man, and gifted with a man's 
heart, seems to represent the later Babylonian 
empire under Nabonidus, who was not a Chaldean, 
but a Babylonian noble; for then there was a 
change from the rule of outward rational knowl- 
edge and comparison denoted by Chaldea to the 
rule of the more inward and emotional inferential 
rationality denoted by Babylonia proper. In the 
extant writings of Nebuchadnezzar and his age 
a broad, powerful sweep of intellectual thought 
is apparent ; and although the writings of Naboni- 
dus lack this comprehensive intellectuality, they 
have a lofty tone and a depth of inspirational 
feeling which are remarkable. The inferential 
rationality of the Babylonians is evidenced by the 
fact that their whole vast system of astrology and 
augury was built up on inference. z The imagina- 
tiveness of the Medes and Persians, who belonged 
to the same race and had practically the same 
language and religion, is evident from their ancient 
religious hymns, which no one can read without 
being impressed by their fine imaginative force; 
and Rawlinson speaks of the ancient Persians as 
"keen-witted, far-sighted, and having fancy and 
imagination," and remarks that the Shah Nameh 
of Firdusi, which probably represents the spirit 
of ancient Persian poetry, is characterized by 
"an imagination exuberant and unrestrained." 
The supremacy of faith in the mind of the ancient 
Macedonians is easily discernible when they are 
1 A. H. Sayce, Assyria; its Princes, Priests, and People, p. 115. 



False Systems of Doctrine 123 

compared with the ancient Greeks. Moreover, 
faith in the gods and their power was still preva- 
lent in the ancient world during the sway of the 
Macedonian empire; and even the metaphysical 
speculations of the Stoics and Epicurus, unlike 
those of the earlier Greek philosophers, were re- 
garded merely as a means toward the production 
of systems of ethical morality, and not as an end 
in themselves, and they were put forward as a sort 
of compensation for the old religious beliefs which 
now had lost their hold on the people. The Stoics 
especially taught the need to the individual of 
being in harmony with the eternal necessity as 
embodying the will of God, and of being in obedi- 
ence to the law of nature as representing the Divine 
law. The beautiful hymn to Zeus written by the 
Stoic Cleanthes during the Macedonian period 
gives noble expression to a deep faith in God and 
in His supreme power and universal law. It 
was not until after the destruction of the Mace- 
donian power by Rome, which represented the 
overthrow of the power of faith in the mind of 
youth by the power of individual free-will or way- 
ward willfulness, that the rank growth of skepti- 
cism occurred which soon became dominant among 
the keener intellects through the ancient civilized 
world. 1 

So far as they are known, the intellectual char- 
acteristics of the peoples of these four ancient 
empires are in accord with the following interpre- 

1 J. P. Mahaffy, Greek Life and Thought, p. 399. 



124 The Prophecies of Daniel 

tation of the meaning of the four beasts above 
mentioned. The love of ruling over others by 
a display of vehement power, which is the lion, 
is amply exemplified on the part of the Babylo- 
nians by the lordly vehemence of Nebuchadnezzar 
himself, as well as by the vehement fierceness of 
the Babylonian soldiery. 1 The love of acquiring 
literal knowledge and ruling by means of it, which 
is the bear, 2 may well have been characteristic 
of the Medes; for they left to posterity practically 
no contributions of original thought. The love 
of ruling by making one's own object appear to 
be to the advantage of others, which is the leo- 
pard, is attested by the appeals to self-interest, 
the deceit, and the duplicity which were rampant 
in the Persian empire. The destructive violence 
of the fourth beast is in accord with the characters 
of the Macedonian rulers, several of whom were 
noted for their violent passions and wanton 
destructiveness. 

The "little horn " mentioned several times in this 
seventh chapter symbolizes Antiochus Epiphanes, 
who stands for a subtle power of perverting the 
truth, because he endeavored to corrupt and to 
pervert the Jewish and true faith through the 
introduction of Greek culture and pagan ideas. 

The interpretation of the spiritual meaning of 
this chapter now follows. 

In a perceptive state at the beginning of the reign 

1 Habakkuk i., 5-1 1. 

2 Worcester, Animals of the Bible, pp. 106-112. 



False Systems of Doctrine 125 

of self-exalting and profaning rationalism in the 
church , the representative of the perceptive element 
of the true church had an obscure revelation of the 
future and visions of internal perception, when his 
natural mind was quiescent; then he wrote down 
the obscure revelation, and told the sum of the 
matters. The representative of the perceptive 
element of the true church spoke and said, I saw 
in my vision in a state of obscurity, and, behold, 
all the elements of inward thought began to oper- 
ate upon the great body of truth in the natural 
mind. And four great systems of dominating 
intellectuality arose from this naturalistic truth, 
different one from another. The first dominating 
system was like the love of ruling by a display of 
vehement power, and was characterized by a 
comprehensive intellectuality; I beheld till this 
comprehensive intellectuality disappeared, and 
it was lifted up from externals, and began to base 
its thought on ultimate emotionality like a spiri- 
tual being, and a spiritual inspirational emotion- 
ality was given to it. And, behold, a second 
system of dominating thought, like the love of 
acquiring literal knowledge and of ruling thereby. 
The intellectual side of this system was the more 
prominent, and it was full of fallacious appear- 
ances arising from self-intelligent thinking in 
regard to what should be accepted and taught; 
and it was permitted to become active, and to 
destroy much genuine truth and innocent life. 
After this I beheld, and, lo, another system of 



126 The Prophecies of Daniel 

dominating and falsifying thought, like the love 
of ruling over others by means of appeals to self- 
interest, * which had a powerful intellectual ability 
to think out things in all their aspects, and also 
possessed complete power of perception; and do- 
minion was given to it. After this I saw in ob- 
scure visions, and, behold, a fourth system of 
dominating thought and faith, terrible and dreadful 
and strong exceedingly. It was characterized by 
very decided opinions as to the consequences of 
accepting teachings other than its own ; it perverted 
and destroyed genuine truth, and what it could 
not pervert and destroy it defiled and attempted 
to blot out by its corporeal emotionality. It was 
different from all the dominating systems of thought 
that preceded it, and it had great powers. I con- 
sidered its powers, and, behold, there arose among 
them another power, a subtle power of perversion, 
before which there was a complete overthrow of 
the former powers ; and, behold, in this subtle power 
was understanding like spiritual understanding, and 
a capacity for expressing large ideas. 

I beheld till the reign of falsities was over- 



1 The leopard primarily signifies the love of ruling over others 
by making one's own object seem to be to their advantage; but 
as such a love is apt to mingle intentional obscurities with the 
truth in order to persuade, which obscurities are like the leopard's 
spots, therefore the leopard derivatively signifies the love of 
falsifying by making what is false appear as the truth {Apocalypse 
Revealed, 572; Apocalypse Explained, 780; Worcester, Animals 
of the Bible, pp. 123-13 1), and this is done by deceitful appear- 
ances and the sudden attack of quick reasonings. 



False Systems of Doctrine 127 

thrown, and the Lord from eternity sat in judg- 
ment. His intellectual expressions were pure 
spiritual teaching, and His emotional expressions 
were warm with love for mankind. His reign was 
based on Divine goodness and truth, and the ap- 
plications of these to human states were from love 
and charity. An atmosphere of deep Divine love 
proceeded from Him, and all who were in good and 
truth acknowledged His dominion. The judg- 
ment was held, and the past activities of all were 
judged out of the Word. I beheld at that time 
because of the great falsities to which the subtle 
power of perversion gave expression; I beheld 
even till this falsifying faith was condemned, and 
its doctrines were destroyed, and it was blotted 
out as accursed. As for the other three false 
systems of intellectual doctrine, their dominion 
was taken away, but their influence will continue 
to exist for a while in the consciousness of the race. 
I saw in these obscure visions, and, behold, the Lord 
in His Divine humanity appeared at the time of the 
acknowledgment of the spiritual sense of the Bible ; 
and He was perceived to be one with the Father, 
and was acknowledged as God. And there was 
given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom, 
that all the intellectual, emotional, and cognizant 
elements of the church should serve Him. His 
dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall 
not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall 
not be destroyed. 

As for me, the representative of the perceptive 



128 The Prophecies of Daniel 

element of the true church, my inward mind was 
distressed within me, and my perceptive visions 
troubled me. I came near to one of them that 
stood by in my vision, and asked him the truth 
concerning all this. So he told me, and made 
me know the interpretation of the things. These 
four great systems of dominating thought are four 
false systems of intellectual doctrine which shall 
arise in the world; but they who are in holy truths 
from the Lord shall receive the religious kingdom, 
and possess the kingdom forever, even for ever 
and ever.- Then I desired to know the truth con- 
cerning the fourth great system of dominating 
thought, which was different from all the others, 
exceedingly terrible, which threatened direful 
consequences if any doctrines but its own were 
accepted, and gave many confirmations that such 
as did not accept its doctrines would have no 
share in heavenly life, which perverted and de- 
stroyed, and defiled and blotted out the rest by 
means of its corporeal emotionality; and concern- 
ing its great powers of inward perception, and the 
other subtle power of perversion which arose, and 
because of which there was a complete overthrow 
of previous powers, even that subtle power which 
had understanding, and a capacity for expressing 
large ideas, whose appearance was more powerful 
than the others. I beheld, and the same subtle 
perverting power assailed those who are in holy 
truths, and prevailed against them, until the Lord 
from eternity came, and judgment was given for 



False Systems of Doctrine 129 

those who uphold holy truths from the Lord, and 
the time came that they who uphold holy truths 
possessed the religious kingdom. 

Thus he said, The fourth system of dominating 
thought shall be a fourth system of false intellec- 
tual doctrine in the world, which shall be different 
from all other doctrinal systems, and shall per- 
vert everything of the church, and defile and 
destroy it. And as for the great powers, out of 
this doctrinal system shall arise many ruling 
falsities, and a subtle ruling falsity shall arise 
after them, which shall be different from the 
former, and shall completely overthrow other 
prevailing falsities. And this subtle ruling falsity 
will speak false things against the Most High, 
and will silence by continual arguments those 
who are in holy truths from the Lord; and it will 
attempt to change the whole attitude and teaching 
of the church. And those who are in holy truths 
shall be given into its power until the end of the 
old order and the beginning of the new. But the 
judgment shall be held, and they shall take away 
the dominion of this subtle ruling falsity to con- 
sume and to destroy it for good. And the religious 
kingdom and the dominion, and the greatness of 
the religious kingdoms under the whole heaven, 
shall be given to those who are in holy truths from 
the Lord ; His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, 
and all dominions shall serve and obey Him. 
This is the end of the revelation. As for me, the 
representative of the perceptive element of the 



130 The Prophecies of Daniel 

true church, my thoughts greatly troubled me, 
and my intellectual brightness was obscured in 
me; but I kept the revelation subject to enlighten- 
ment from on high. 

With reference to the future, the four beasts 
of this seventh chapter of Daniel represent four 
great systems of intellectual doctrine which will 
devastate and desolate the Christian Church 
during the time of its consummation. These four 
beasts are the same as the beast out of the sea 
mentioned in the thirteenth chapter of the Apoca- 
lypse, which represents the falsities and evils now 
arising in the Christian Church ; z but in the Apoca- 
lypse all the four beasts are united in one, the fourth 
beast appearing as the ' ' mouth speaking great things 
and blasphemies." The reason of this difference 
is probably that when these four systems or states 
of thought first came into existence in the life 
of the race they were developed successively; but 
as the developments of all the centuries of the pre- 
vious life of the world are more or less represented 
in the mind of the race at the present day, there- 
fore when the psychological characteristics of an 
ancient era are reawakened, they are apt to come 
into simultaneous activity. Even so, however, 
it is not unreasonable to expect that, in the return 
of the race through these ancient mental phases, 
some emphasis will occur in the human conscious- 
ness on each of these four systems of thought in 

1 See Kip, Phases of the Church Universal, pp. 55, 56, 63-66, 
87, 88. 



False Systems of Doctrine 13 1 

succession, though in a reverse order to that of 
their original development. But whether they 
are to exist simultaneously or partly successively, 
the present chapter is explicit in the teaching 
that the acknowledgment of the Lord's divinity 
and the spiritual sense of the Bible, together with 
the establishment of the New Church on a large 
scale, will occur immediately after these resusci- 
tated systems of ancient thought have lost their 
dominion in the Christian Church. It is not to 
be expected that the countries of Babylonia, 
Media, Persia, and Macedonia will, coincidently 
with the rise in the world of the immediate future 
of the qualities which they stood for in the past, 
regain their old supremacy among the nations; but 
it is likely that some modern nations, whose men- 
tal attributes are most akin to these ancient em- 
pires, will become the future effigies of their life 
and thought, which although long since passed 
away have left an indelible imprint in the inner 
recesses of the individual mind of to-day. It is 
probable that France will take the place of Persia 
and represent the leopard, Russia the place of 
Media and represent the bear, and England the 
place of Babylonia and represent the lion. The 
appropriateness of the representations assigned to 
Russia and England is evident from the fact that 
both these countries are popularly typified by the 
bear and the lion; but the deceitful reasonings 
denoted by the leopard do not so plainly apply to 
France. Nevertheless France is to-day a hotbed 



i3 2 The Prophecies of Daniel 

of irreligion, and it is very likely that a number 
of those within the church there who are irreligious 
at heart will seek to pervert and falsify the Divine 
truths of the Bible when these conflict with their 
own self -intelligent theories. Moreover, the whole 
body, and hence the most important part, of the 
beast out of the sea was like a leopard; and as in 
the triple alliance consummated several years ago 
between France, Russia, and England, France is the 
leading country, it must represent the leopard if 
Russia represents the feet of the bear, and England 
the mouth of the lion. It is uncertain what pres- 
ent nation represents Macedonia in this connec- 
tion and the "mouth speaking great things and 
blasphemies" which was given to the beast. It 
may be Japan, which is already joined with Eng- 
land and Russia in alliances. The beautiful 
mountain Fujiyama in Japan corresponds to 
attention to the most profound subjects, and 
consequently the Japanese must have a capacity 
for attention to profound subjects, and thus for 
"speaking great things." It is true that Japan 
is a pagan nation, and that states of the Christian 
Church are represented by the beasts of Daniel 
and the Apocalypse; but, nevertheless, it is really 
a state of paganism infesting and perverting the 
vital truths of Christianity that is described. 
Japan, however, has not taken a prominent part 
in the recent World War, and this fact seems to 
disqualify it for such a representation. It may 
be Serbia, which includes in its present territory 



False Systems of Doctrine 133 

a large portion of ancient Macedonia; but Serbia 
does not seem to be a large enough nation to re- 
present the old Macedonian empire. In all prob- 
ability it is Italy; for the powerful and crushing 
rule of Italy in ancient times fits so well the descrip- 
tion of the terrible fourth beast of Daniel's vision 
that several Biblical commentators have considered 
that Italy and not Macedonia was represented 
by this beast, which is identical with the "mouth 
speaking great things and blasphemies" of the 
Apocalypse. The reason for this similarity between 
Italy and the Macedonian empire is probably 
to be found in the correspondence of Macedonia 
as faith in God's power to do according to His 
will; for as the rulers of Macedonia considered 
themselves to be gods, their belief in their power 
to do according to their own will was a character- 
istic similar to that of the rulers of Rome and 
Italy, who, because Italy corresponds to the will, 
wish to act and rule in accordance with their own 
will, and to crush out opposition to their will 
in others. Moreover, Swedenborg explains the 
fourth beast of Daniel as the love of ruling over 
heaven and earth, to which things holy are made 
subservient as means, which love is meant by 
Babylon 1 ; and as the Roman Catholic Church is 
especially meant by Babylon, and as Italy is the 
headquarters of that church, Italy is a very appro- 
priate nation to represent the fourth beast accord- 
ing to Swedenborg's interpretation of its meaning. 

1 Apocalypse Explained, 3160*5. 



134 The Prophecies of Daniel 

In a future perceptive state at the beginning 
ol the rule of self -intelligent profaning rationalism 
in the Christian Church, the representatives of 
the perceptive element of the New Church within 
the Christian Church will recall the revelation 
made in obscurity to their ancient prototype and 
recorded in this seventh chapter of Daniel. It was 
obscurely revealed to the representative of the 
perceptive element of the true church in ancient 
times that under the influence of powerful inward 
thinking directed upon the outward knowledge 
of the natural mind four great systems of dominat- 
ing thought will arise in the Christian Church 
similar to those which existed in a parallel period 
of the ancient world. One system in its sway 
through inward falsities will be like the love of 
ruling by a display of vehement power, and at 
one time it will be marked by a comprehensive 
rational intellectuality; but at another time it 
will lack this comprehensive intellectuality, will 
depart from external intellectual things, will base 
its thought upon ultimate emotionality like a 
spiritual being, and will be characterized by 
spiritual inspirational feeling. Another system 
or form of false thinking will arise, which in its 
study of the literal sense of the Bible will resemble 
the merely natural love of acquiring literal knowl- 
edge and ruling thereby; and its intellectual side 
will be the more prominent. It will be full of 
fallacious appearances from self -intelligent think- 
ing as to what should be accepted and taught as 



False Systems of Doctrine 135 

the truth, and it will be permitted to destroy 
much genuine truth. Another system or kind of 
false thinking will also arise, which in its deceitful 
reasonings will be like the love of ruling over 
others by making it appear to their advantage to 
do what its own selfishness desires to have done, 
and this system or state of thought will be char- 
acterized by a powerful intellectual ability to 
think out things in all their aspects, and will possess 
complete powers of perception, and it will domi- 
nate in the church. There will also arise a fourth 
system or form of false thinking, which will be 
terrible in its violence and exceedingly strong in 
its convictions; and it will have very decided 
opinions as to the consequences of others accepting 
any doctrines but its own, it will pervert and 
destroy genuine truth, and defile and blot out by 
its corporeal emotionality what it cannot pervert 
and destroy. It will be different from all the 
other systems or forms of thought, and will have 
great powers of perversion. Among these powers 
will arise a power of subtle perversion, z which will 
completely overthrow other prevalent powers, 

1 In regard to the meaning of the "little horn" Swedenborg 
says: "It signifies a complete perversion of the Word by the 
application of the sense of its letter to confirm the love of domin- 
ion. This horn is called little because it does not appear that 
the Word is perverted; and what does not appear before the 
sight of man's spirit, that is, before his understanding, is regarded 
either as nothing or as little. In the spiritual world such is the 
appearance of things that are apprehended by a few only" (Apo- 
calypse Explained, 316). 



13 6 The Prophecies of Daniel 

and will have an understanding like spiritual 
understanding, and a capacity for expressing 
large ideas. 

But after a time the rule of these forms of false 
thinking will be overthrown, and the Lord from 
eternity will come to judge the church, He Whose 
intellectual expressions as contained in the Word 
are pure spiritual teaching, and Whose emotional 
expressions are warm with love for men, Whose 
sovereignty is based on goodness and truth, the 
applications and adaptations of which to human 
states of mind are from love and charity. An 
atmosphere of love proceeds from Him, and all 
who are in goodness and truth acknowledge His 
supremacy. The judgment of the church will 
be held, and the past activities of all within it will 
be judged by the standards of the Bible. Atten- 
tion will then be specially directed to the great 
falsities which the subtle power of perversion 
utters, and this form of false thinking will be 
condemned, and its doctrines destroyed and 
blotted out as accursed. As for the other three 
forms of false thinking, their dominion will then 
be taken away; but they will continue to exist 
for a while longer in the mind of the church. Then 
there will come, together with the acceptance of 
the spiritual sense of the Bible by the purified 
remnant of Christendom, the reception of the 
Lord in His Divine Humanity, and He will be 
seen to be one with the Father, and will be acknowl- 
edged as God. His glorious sovereignty will be 



False Systems of Doctrine 137 

acknowledged by all the good intellectual, emo- 
tional, and cognizant elements in the church, and 
the New Church wilich will then be established 
on a large scale will be lasting upon the earth. 

The representatives of the perceptive element 
of the New Church within the Christian Church 
will become distressed as they recall this ancient 
prophecy, and their inward perceptions will trouble 
them. They will therefore seek enlightenment con- 
cerning the meaning and application of this revela- 
tion, and such enlightenment will be given them 
through the writings of the New Church. They will 
be shown that the four great systems of dominating 
thought are four forms of false thinking which by 
their day will have arisen in the Christian Church, 
but that nevertheless they who uphold the holy 
truths of the Lord's Word will finally obtain the su- 
premacy, and will thereafter retain it for all time. 
In regard to the fourth system of dominating 
thought, which was different from the rest, ex- 
ceedingly terrible in its false beliefs, which teaches 
direful consequences to others who do not accept 
its doctrines, and gives many confirmations from 
the Word that no one who does not accept them 
will have any share in heavenly life and happiness, 
which perverts and destroys all the truth it can, 
and by its corporeal emotionality defiles and blots 
out what is left, which has great powers of per- 
version, out of which arises a subtle power of 
perversion overthrowing other powers completely, 
even the subtle power of perversion that has 



138 The Prophecies of Daniel 

understanding like spiritual understanding, and 
a capacity for expressing large ideas, the appear- 
ance of which is more powerful than the others, 
which subtle power assails those who are in holy- 
truths, and prevails over them until the Lord 
from eternity comes, and judgment is given in 
favor of those who uphold the holy truths of the 
Word, and the time comes for these to obtain the 
supremacy, — these representatives of the percep- 
tive element of the New Church will be shown that 
the fourth system of dominating thought is a 
form of false faith which by their day will have 
become prevalent in the Christian Church, which 
will be different from all the other forms of false 
thinking, and will pervert all the good and truth 
of the church, and defile and destroy them. The 
great powers represented by the ten horns of the 
beast will be the powerful ruling falsities which 
will arise from this form of false faith, and another 
different and more subtle power of perverting the 
truth will arise from it, which will overthrow other 
prevalent false views. They who represent this 
subtle power of perversion will speak false things 
in regard to the Lord, and will silence by their 
continual arguments those who uphold the holy 
truths of the Lord. They will plan to change the 
whole attitude and teaching of the church, and 
the upholders of the holy truths of the Word will 
be given into their power until the end of the 
Christian Church and the beginning of the New 
Church. But the judgment of the church will 



False Systems of Doctrine 139 

come to pass, and the rule of the subtle pervert ers 
of the truth will be taken away, and consummated 
and destroyed for good; and the sovereignty and 
rule over the Christian Church, and over all the 
religious kingdoms of the world, will be given to 
those who have upheld the holy truths of the 
Lord, Whose New-Church kingdom will be last- 
ing, and all religious dominions will serve and 
obey Him. This is the end of the revelation. 
The representatives of the perceptive element of 
the New Church within the Christian Church 
will be greatly troubled by these interpretations, 
and their own intellectual brightness will be ob- 
scured; but they will keep the interpretations 
in their minds subject to illumination from above. 



CONFLICTING SYSTEMS OF ETHICS 1 

SHEEP and goats correspond to the love of 
social intercourse, as is shown by their re- 
markably gregarious nature, a sheep corresponding 
to an emotional love of social intercourse or to the 
social exchange of feelings, and a goat to an intel- 
lectual love of social intercourse or to the social 
exchange of thoughts. Hence sheep and goats 
stand in the Bible for emotional and intellectual 
loves for others, and for good affections in general. 2 
The vision of the image contained in the second 
chapter of Daniel, and the vision of the four beasts 
contained in the seventh chapter, seem to have 
special reference to the religious doctrines of life 
and thought which were prevalent in the ancient 
empires of Babylonia, Media, Persia, and Mace- 
donia, and which, through the powerful influence 
of these empires and the religious inconstancy of 
the Jews, were also prevalent in the Jewish Church 
itself; but the vision of the ram and the he-goat 
contained in the present chapter, the ram repre- 
senting Media and Persia, and the he-goat Mace- 

1 Comprising Daniel viii., 1-27. 

2 Heavenly Arcana, 2781, 4169, 9740, 10042; Apocalypse Ex- 
plained, 314 s . 

140 



Conflicting Systems of Ethics 14 1 

donia or Greece, 1 seems to portray the social and 
human side of these empires and their ethical 
views, the ram signifying an ethical system that 
makes a good life the essential thing in ethics 
and religion, and the he-goat signifying an ethical 
system that makes intellectual faith the essential 
thing. 2 The horns of the ram are said to be high; 
and answering to this the ethical standards of 
Media and Persia were in general lofty, their 
teachings inculcated charity toward the poor, and 
the very watchword of their ancient scriptures 
was "good thoughts, good words, good deeds." 
Hence the emotional element, or the element of 
goodness and charity, is apparent in their ethical 
system as a whole. But it is quite the contrary 
with the ethical systems of the Epicureans and 
Stoics, which arose during the Macedonian period; 
for the Epicureans taught that the bodily appe- 
tites should be subdued in order that they might 
not interfere with the intellectual pleasures of 
the mind, and the Stoics enjoined a similar repres- 
sion of outward desires in order that the soul 
might become free from all passionate feeling, 
and so be able to enjoy intellectual calm and 
repose. The intellectual quality of the faith of 
the Stoics in something higher and all -ruling is 
clear; for in their system "man's morality is his 
subordination to the law of nature, his willing 
obedience to the course of the world, to the eternal 

1 Verses 20, 21. 

2 Apocalypse Explained, 418 6 ; Doctrine of Faith, 63, 68. 



H 2 The Prophecies of Daniel 

necessity, and in so far as this world-reason is 
designated in the Stoic doctrine as Deity, it is also 
obedience to God and to the Divine law, as well 
as subordination to the world-purpose and the 
rule of Providence." 1 The markedly intellectual 
character of the faith and teachings of the ethical 
systems of Macedonia and Greece are therefore 
aptly portrayed by a he-goat. The ram and the 
he-goat as the male of the sheep and the goats 
represent respectively the perceptive emotional 
and the perceptive intellectual element. 

The notable horn between the eyes of the he- 
goat, which is said to be the first king, symbolizes 
Alexander the Great, who was the first king of the 
Macedonian empire. Alexander was distinctive 
in that he united Macedonian force of character 
with the pagan culture of the Greeks; and he 
seems therefore to represent a youthful self- 
intelligent faith in God and His power, which is 
strengthened by the intellectual culture of the 
critical mind. This strong, self-intelligent faith 
of youth, supported by the deliberations of the 
comparing or critical faculty, 2 overthrows the 
imaginative ideas and ideals which were supreme 
in the earlier period of youth, and extends its 
sway over many faculties of the mind; and such 
psychological conquests are like the historical 
conquests of Alexander the Great over Persia 

1 Windelband, History of Philosophy, p. 172. 

2 Greece corresponds to the faculty of comparison and its 
deliberations (Kip, Psychology of the Nations, pp. 128-132). 



Conflicting Systems of Ethics H3 

and many other countries of the ancient world. 
But this faith and its wide authority do not con- 
tinue long in the youthful mind, and in its place 
spring up a number of conflicting faiths all striv- 
ing for supremacy, four distinct forms of faith 
finally becoming prevalent; and this is like the 
political disorder and the conflict between rival 
claimants for the throne which followed Alexander's 
death, and the final partition of his empire into 
the territories of Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus, 
and Ptolemy, which are meant by the four notable 
horns into which the first horn was broken up. 1 
From the Syrian kingdom of the Seleucids 
sprang Antiochus Epiphanes, who is the little 
horn of verse nine, and who as before stands for 
a subtle power of perverting the truth. Such 
subtle power of perversion was a ruling influence 
also in the Jewish Church itself, where at that 
time it was the dominant characteristic of the 

1 Cassander obtained Macedonia and Greece, and hence his 
kingdom corresponded to faith founded on the deliberations of 
the critical mind. Lysimachus obtained Thrace and a part of 
Asia Minor, and hence his kingdom corresponded to faith founded 
on the dictates of the conscience, Thrace corresponding to faith 
in God's power to do as He says He will do, and Asia Minor 
corresponding to the conscience (Idem, pp. 71-73). This king- 
dom was short-lived. Seleucus received Syria, Babylonia, and 
other eastern countries; but as his kingdom was afterward 
very much restricted in its extent, and as its later and permanent 
capital became Antioch in Syria, his kingdom became practically 
a Syrian kingdom, and as such corresponded to faith founded 
on symbolism (Idem, pp. 68-70). Ptolemy received Egypt, 
and hence his kingdom corresponded to faith founded on a 
knowledge of spiritual things (Idem, pp. 136-142). 



H4 The Prophecies of Daniel 

numerous apostate Jews who had become estranged 
from the true religion through the seductions of 
Greek intellectualism and pagan customs. 

The city of Susa or Shushan, in the castle or 
citadel of which Daniel appeared to himself to 
be when he had the vision, seems to correspond 
to graphic or vivid imagination and the doctrines 
formed from it, and the castle or citadel to a 
strongly fortified or defensive state of mind; 
hence the citadel of Susa corresponds to strongly 
intrenched imaginative doctrines ruling in the 
church. The river Ulai was probably a large 
artificial canal, which ran from the Kerkha River 
to the Dizful, and passed close by the city of Susa. 
The Dizful River seems to correspond to the 
mental representation of actually existing things 
under imaginative forms, while the Kerkha seems 
to correspond to purely imaginative representation 
without reference to actual existence. The river 
or canal Ulai may therefore be regarded as 
corresponding to a combination in imaginative 
thought of the actual and the unactual, the real 
and the purely imaginary. Daniel's standing 
by this river in his vision seems therefore to re- 
present the state of life of the representative of 
the perceptive element of the true church in 
close proximity to the current of mingled real 
and imaginary, true and false thinking, which 
was characteristic of the church of self -exalting 
and profaning rationalism, within which church 
he lived. 



Conflicting Systems of Ethics 145 

Gabriel and Michael, who are mentioned in this 
and the following chapters, are spoken of in the 
apocryphal books of Tobit and Enoch as two of 
the seven holy angels. 1 These seven angels are 
evidently the same as the seven angels of the 
seven churches, referred to in the Apocalypse. 2 
Swedenborg states that the angels who are men- 
tioned in the Word, such as Michael and Raphael, 
mean "administrations and functions, and in 
general limited and specified departments of the 
administration and function of all the angels." 3 
Gabriel seems to be the angel of the church of 
Ephesus, and represents the type of angels who 
are especially in the perception of what is good 
and the knowledge of doctrine 4 ; whereas Michael 
seems to be the angel of the church of Sardis, 
and represents the type of angels who are espe- 
cially in the perception of what is true. Hence 
Michael is represented as carrying on war in 
heaven with the dragon 5 ; for it is truth and not 
good that fights, 6 and the quick perception of 
what is true is necessary to meet promptly and 
to refute thoroughly the arguments of those who 



1 Tobit xii., 15; Enoch xx., 1-7; also p. 357 Charles' edition; 
lxxxi., 5; xc., 21, 22. 

2 L, 20; ii., 1, 8, 12, 18; iii., 1, 7, 14. 

3 Apocalypse Explained, 735. 

4 The members of this church give great prominence to matters 
of doctrine (see Apocalypse Revealed, 73). 

s Apocalypse xii., 7. 

6 Heavenly Arcana, 1950, 3923; New Jerusalem and its Heavenly 
Doctrine, 198. 



H 6 The Prophecies of Daniel 

are in falsities. In regard to the meaning of 
Michael and Gabriel, Swedenborg says: 

"By Michael is not meant any archangel, nor 
by Gabriel and Raphael; but ministries in heaven 
are meant. The ministry there which is Michael 
is of those who prove from the Word that the Lord 
is the God of heaven and earth, and that God the 
Father and He are one, as the soul and the body 
are one; also that man must live according to the 
commandments of the Decalogue, and that he 
then has charity and faith. . . . But by Gabriel 
is meant the ministry of those who teach from the 
Word that Jehovah came into the world, and that 
the Human which He there begot is the Son of 
God and Divine; on which account the angel who 
announced it to Mary is called Gabriel. ' ' x 

So far as this description applies to the Lord's 
Divinity, the ministry of Gabriel seems to be a 
doctrinal and emotional way of teaching this 
doctrine, while the ministry of Michael seems 
to be a more intellectual way of teaching it, and 
also the necessity of a good life according to the 
commandments. If this is so, it confirms the 
view that Gabriel stands for the angel of the church 
of Ephesus, and Michael for the angel of the church 
of Sardis; for the church of Ephesus is the per- 
ceptive element of the emotional church, and the 
church of Sardis is the perceptive element of the 
intellectual church. 

1 Apocalypse Revealed, 548. 



Conflicting Systems of Ethics H7 

Now follows the spiritual interpretatior of this 
eighth chapter of Daniel with reference to the 
ancient phases of the church. 

When the reign of self -exalting and profaning 
rationalism in the church had reached its full 
development, a vision of revelation appeared to 
me, the representative of the perceptive element 
of the true church, after that which appeared to 
me at the beginning. And I saw in the vision; 
now it was so that when I saw, I was situated 
within a strongly fortified system of doctrine 
formulated by the vivid imagination which is 
in the mental province of perceiving by imagina- 
tive thought what things are necessary for a given 
purpose; and I saw in the vision of revelation, 
and I was in close proximity to a current of mingled 
real and imaginary thinking. Then I lifted up 
the sight of my mind, and saw, and, behold, there 
was produced from this mingled real and imaginary 
thought an emotional ethical system, or ethics 
founded on good life, which had intellectual and 
emotional powers, and the powers were lofty; but 
one was loftier than the other, and the loftier came 
up last . I saw this emotional ethical system develop- 
ing in emotional perceptiveness, in knowledge, and 
in thought; and no other systems could stand be- 
fore it, neither could any controvert its arguments ; 
but it had its way, and made great conquests. 

And as I was considering, behold, an intellectual 
ethical system or ethics founded on intellectual be- 
lief of the truth, w^as produced from intellectual 



148 The Prophecies of Daniel 

perceptiveness, and spread over the whole church. 
This intellectual ethical system was theoretical 
in its tendency, and was characterized by a strong 
critical power of self -intelligence. And this intel- 
lectual system came in contact with the emotional 
system of ethics, which had the intellectual and 
emotional powers, and which was produced from 
the current of real and imaginary thinking, and 
advanced against it in the fury of its powerful 
arguments. And I saw it come into close contact 
with the emotional system of ethics, and it was 
incensed against this system, and attacked it, 
and destroyed its intellectual and emotional powers ; 
and there was no power in this emotional system 
of ethics to withstand its attacks, but the intel- 
lectual ethical system overthrew it, and completely 
refuted its teachings, and no one could deliver the 
emotional ethical system from the strength of its 
arguments. And the intellectual system of ethics 
made exceedingly great conquests; and when it 
was powerful, the strong critical power of self -in- 
telligence became divided; and instead of it there 
arose four critical powers of thought developed 
from all the elements of inward thinking. 

And out of one of these critical, self -intelligent 
powers came forth a subtle power of perversion, 
which grew exceedingly great in regard to thought, 
conduct, and the literal truths of the Word. And 
it grew great, even to the interior good and truths 
of heaven and the church; and some of these good 
and true things it overthrew and falsified. Yea, 



Conflicting Systems of Ethics 149 

it showed presumptuous boldness, even to Jehovah 
Himself ; and it took away from Him the heartfelt 
worship of the church, and the doctrine of His 
sole Divinity was denied. And through the 
falsities and evils rife within the church heavenly 
things and the heartfelt worship of the church 
were given into its power; and it overthrew the 
truth, and had its way and prospered. Then I 
heard the representative of those who are in intel- 
lectual holy truths speaking, and the representa- 
tive of those who are in emotional holy truths 
said to that representative who spoke, How long 
shall be the vision of revelation concerning the 
heartfelt worship of the church, and the falsities 
that desolate it, whereby the holy things of both 
the church and heaven are falsified and defiled? 
And he said to me, Until the end of the old order 
and the beginning of the new, when these remains 
of religious thought and life now stored up in the 
human mind shall be lived through again 1 ; then 
shall the holy truths of the church and the Word 
be justified. 

And it came to pass when I, the representative 
of the perceptive element of the true church, had 
seen the vision of revelation, that I sought to 
understand it; and, behold, the Lord became 
present in His Divine humanity. And I perceived 
a Divine influence amid the current of mingled 

1 In regard to the number 2300, two has reference to thought, 
three has reference to action or outward life, and ten or one 
hundred by which these are multiplied has reference to remains. 



150 The Prophecies of Daniel 

real and imaginary thought, which impelled the 
representative of the angels who are especially in 
the perception of what is good and the knowledge 
of doctrine to enlighten me in regard to the mean- 
ing of the vision. So he came near to me in my 
state of life; and when he came near, my natural 
state of mind was shaken, and became displaced: 
but he said to me, Understand, son of man; 
for the vision belongs to the time of the end. 
Now as he was communicating his thoughts to 
me, my state of mind became deeply quiescent, 
with the interiors turned outward; but he com- 
municated his life to me, and lifted up my mind. 
And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what 
shall be in the latter time of the judgment; for it 
belongs to the appointed time of the end. The 
emotional ethical system which thou sawest, that 
had the intellectual and the emotional powers, 
they are the ruling ideas of intellectual and emo- 
tional imagination. And the intellectual ethical 
system is the ruling spirit of critical faith; and 
the strong power of self -intelligence in its under- 
standing of things is the fundamental ruling spirit 
of critical faith. And as for that which was 
divided, in the place whereof four arose, four 
ruling faiths shall arise out of this critical faith, 
but not with the power of the original faith. And 
in the latter time of their rule, when the falsities 
and evils of the church have reached their full 
measure, a ruling spirit of hard interiors because 
lacking in good, and understanding symbolic 



Conflicting Systems of Ethics 151 

things, shall arise. And his power shall be mighty, 
but not by the force of true spirituality; and he 
shall cause extraordinary destruction, and shall 
prosper and do his pleasure, and he shall overthrow 
those who are in spiritual and holy truths. And 
through his subtle policy he shall cause deceit 
to prosper in his doings, and he shall show pre- 
sumptuous boldness in his scheming; and shall 
destroy the beliefs of many when they are unsus- 
picious of any harm ; he shall also stand up against 
Jehovah Himself, but he shall come to an end by 
Divine intervention. And the vision of the end 
of the old order and the beginning of the new 
which has been told is true ; but shut thou up the 
vision, for it belongs to many days to come. And 
I, the representative of the perceptive element of 
the true church, experienced a severe depression 
of spirits, and was sorely distressed for a while; 
then my state of mind became elevated, and I 
performed the affairs of the ruling spirit of self- 
exalting and profaning rationalism. And I w^as 
appalled at the vision, but no one understood it. 
In its application to the future, this eighth 
chapter of Daniel seems to predict two conflicting 
systems of ethics and theology, as the line between 
ethics and religion is rather loosely drawn. The 
ram will be a system of ethics and religion founded 
on a life of goodness and charity; but its teachings 
will be spurious, and the product of mingled true 
and imaginary thought, because they will not be 
based upon a true understanding of the Bible. 



15 2 The Prophecies of Daniel 

Against this ethical or theological system which 
gives greatest importance to the life will arise an 
ethical or theological system which makes an 
intellectual faith the essential thing in ethics and 
religion. Such critical intellectualism, and the 
subtle power of perverting the truth which grows 
out of it, will be important factors in the desola- 
tion and consummation of the Christian Church, 
which is now at hand. It is likely that the phases 
described in this chapter will occur simultaneously 
in the Christian Church, and in fact they seem to 
exist there already in incipient form. 

When the reign of self- exalting and profaning 
rationalism in the Christian Church of the future 
has reached its full development, the representa- 
tives of the perceptive element of the New Church 
within the Christian Church will recall this vision 
of revelation which appeared to their ancient 
prototype. Like the Daniel of old, they will be 
living in the midst of doctrines which are formed 
from the vivid imagination that is part of the 
faculty of perceiving by imaginative insight what 
things are necessary for a desired result, and which 
are strongly fortified by defensive or confirmatory 
arguments; and they will be in close proximity 
to the current of mingled real and imaginary, true 
and false thinking, which will then be character- 
istic of the Christian Church. In a state of mental 
elevation they will recall this ancient revelation, 
how that an emotional system of ethics and theo- 
logy, with intellectual and emotional powers, was 



Conflicting Systems of Ethics 153 

produced from this mingled current of true and 
imaginary thought ; and the intellectual and emo- 
tional powers were lofty, but the emotional power 
was loftier than the other, and arose last. This 
emotional system of ethics and theology, or system 
founded on good life, developed in emotional 
perceptiveness, knowledge, and thought, and no 
other systems could stand before it, nor could any 
controvert its arguments; but it had its way and 
made great conquests. But now an intellectual 
system of ethics and theology, or a system founded 
on intellectual belief, was produced from intellec- 
tual perceptiveness, and spread over the whole 
church. It was theoretical in tendency, and was 
characterized by a strong critical power of self- 
intelligence. This intellectual system of ethics 
and theology came in contact with the emotional 
system which had intellectual and emotional 
powers, and which was produced from the current 
of true and imaginary thinking, and advanced 
against it in the fury of its powerful arguments. 
It came into close contact with the system of 
ethics and theology founded on good life, and it 
was incensed against this system, and attacked 
it, and destroyed its intellectual and emotional 
powers ; and there was no power in this emotional 
system of ethics and theology to withstand its 
attacks, but the intellectual ethical system over- 
threw it, and completely refuted its teachings, 
and no one could deliver the emotional system 
founded on good life from the strength of its argu- 



i54 The Prophecies of Daniel 

ments. The intellectual system of ethics and 
theology made exceedingly great conquests; and 
when it was powerful, the strong critical power 
of self-intelligence became divided, and instead 
of it there arose four critical powers of thought 
developed from all the elements of inward thinking. 
Out of one of these critical, self-intelligent 
powers came forth a subtle power of perversion, 
which grew exceedingly great in regard to thought, 
conduct, and the literal truths of the Bible. It 
grew great even to the interior good and true 
things of' heaven and the church, and some of 
these it overthrew and falsified. Yea, it showed 
presumptuous boldness even to the Lord Himself; 
and it took away from Him the heartfelt worship 
of the church, and the doctrine of His Divinity 
was denied. Through the falsities and evils rife 
within the church the heavenly things of the 
church and its heartfelt worship were given into 
its power; and it overthrew the truth, and had its 
way and prospered. Then the representative of 
those who are in intellectual holy truths spoke, 
and the representative of those who are in emo- 
tional holy truths said to the intellectual repre- 
sentative who spoke, "How long shall be the 
vision of revelation concerning the heartfelt 
worship of the church, and the falsities that deso- 
late it, whereby the things of both the church 
and heaven are falsified and defiled?" And he 
replied, "Until the end of the Christian Church 
and the beginning of the New Church, when these 



Conflicting Systems of Ethics 155 

remains of religious thought and life now stored 
up in the human mind have been lived through 
again; then shall the holy truths of the church 
and the Word be justified." 

It will come to pass, when the representatives 
of the perceptive element of the New Church 
within the Christian Church, recall this prophetic 
revelation, that they will seek enlightenment 
concerning it ; and, behold, the Lord in His Divine 
humanity will become present with them, and 
they will perceive that it is of His Divinely human 
influence that they receive enlightenment from 
the angels who are especially in the perception 
of what is good and the knowledge of doctrine. 
These angels will draw near to the representatives 
of the perceptive element of the New Church, 
whose natural state of mind will in consequence 
be shaken and displaced; but the angels will 
communicate the perceptive understanding that 
the revelation belongs to the time of the end of 
the Christian Church. As they receive this spirit- 
ual perception from the angels, the state of mind 
of the representatives of the perceptive New 
Church will become deeply quiescent with its 
interiors turned outward; but the angels will 
communicate their life to them, and lift up their 
minds. The representatives of the perceptive 
New Church will then know, through the influ- 
ence of these angels, that the revelation has refer- 
ence to the end of the Christian Church, when it 
shall be judged. The emotional system of ethics 



156 The Prophecies of Daniel 

and theology, which had the intellectual and 
emotional powers, are the spurious ideas of intel- 
lectual and emotional imagination which will 
become prevalent in the Christian Church; and 
the intellectual system of ethics and theology is 
the spirit of critical faith which will rule in the 
Christian Church at its end, the strong power of 
self -intelligence being the fundamental principle. 
As for that which was divided, in the place whereof 
four arose, four forms of false belief shall arise 
out of this critical faith, but not with the power 
of the original, fundamental faith. In the latter 
time of the rule of these false forms of faith in the 
Christian Church, when the evils and falsities of 
the church have grown to their full measure, a 
ruling spirit lacking interior goodness, but under- 
standing symbolic things, will arise. Its power 
will be mighty, but not from the force of true 
spirituality; and it will cause extraordinary de- 
struction, and will prosper and have its way; and 
it will overthrow those who are in spiritual and 
holy truths. Through the subtle policy of its 
representatives it will cause deceit to prosper, 
and its representatives will show presumptuous 
boldness in their scheming; and will overthrow 
the beliefs of many, who do not look for any harm 
from them. They will also oppose the Lord 
Himself and His teachings; but they will come 
to an end without human agency. The angelic 
influence will cause the perception that the revela- 
tion of the end of the Christian Church and the 



Conflicting Systems of Ethics 157 

beginning of the New Church which has been told 
is true, and that the true interpretation of it has 
been withheld until the time of the end of that 
church. When they perceive the meaning and 
application of this prophetic revelation, the repre- 
sentatives of the perceptive element of the New 
Church will experience a severe depression of 
spirits, and their minds will be sorely distressed; 
but afterward they will have an interior percep- 
tion in regard to the affairs of the self-exalting 
and profaning rationalistic Christian Church of 
the future. They will be appalled at the applica- 
tion of the prophetic revelation, but no others 
will understand it. 



THE DESOLATION OF THE CHURCH BY 
SELF-INTELLIGENCE AND SELF- 
EXALTATION 1 

IN this ninth chapter the author of Daniel at- 
tempts to show that the seventy years pre- 
dicted by Jeremiah as the duration of Babylonian 
captivity and Babylonian supremacy was seventy 
weeks of years, or 490 years, a period which accord- 
ing to the defective chronology then current would 
terminate about three and a half years from the 
time the book of Daniel was probably written. 
These three and a half years are the same as the 
"time and times and half a time" elsewhere 
spoken of in Daniel, and also the same as the half 
of the week during which the "prince," who stands 
for Antiochus Epiphanes, would cause the sacri- 
fice and the oblation to cease. 2 This whole ninth 
chapter treats of the spiritual devastation and 
desolation of the church caused by the self-intel- 
ligence and self -exaltation represented by the 
Babylonian captivity; for this captivity on the 
part of the Jews represented and was the result 
of their own perverse state of mind, which rejected 
the true religion for the false idols of man's own 

1 Comprising Daniel ix., 1-27. 2 Verse 27. 

158 



Desolation of the Church 159 

self-intelligent devising. Such a state of self- 
intelligence and self-exaltation in regard to the 
spiritual things of the Word has existed in the 
Jewish and in the Christian Church ever since, 
though in a less virulent form than at the time of 
the Babylonian captivity. The time for the 
release of the church from this naturalistic, self- 
intelligent condition, and its consequent fruition 
of the joys and glories predicted in the prophecies 
of the Old Testament, was extended down to his 
own time by the author of Daniel; but as has 
already been stated in these pages, no such release 
from naturalism and materialism, and conse- 
quently no entrance into these promised spiritual 
blessings can be expected until this inward evil 
of self-intelligence and self-exaltation, inherited 
by the race from the time of the Babylonian cap- 
tivity, has been fully repented of and cast out from 
the mind. Such repentance and casting out will 
probably not come to pass in the church for two 
or more centuries yet, and even then the Babylon 
of self -intelligence and self-exaltation will be cast 
out only from the natural plane of the mind; for 
the inmost self-intelligence and self-exaltation 
represented by the Babylon of the Most Ancient 
Church will still remain in the innermost recesses 
of the souls of men until the church returns once 
more to its celestial estate in the distant future. x 
The Lord's promise that He will bring back the 
captivity of Judah and Jerusalem and build them 

1 Kip, Phases of the Church Universal, pp. 89, 90. 



i6o The Prophecies of Daniel 

as at the first, and that He will cleanse them of all 
their iniquities, 1 can be fulfilled only when the 
church is willing to return from its present state 
of naturalistic self-intelligence and self-exaltation 
which has estranged it all these centuries from 
God, and prevented it from accepting interior 
spiritual truths. Such a willingness on the part of 
the church to be brought back to the more inward 
and spiritually receptive states of mind which 
prevailed "at the first" in the youth of the world 
may, however, be confidently expected within the 
next two or three centuries, and then the glorious 
promises of restoration and healing and rejoicing 
so repeatedly and so grandly voiced by the Old 
Testament prophets will begin to be realized; for 
then the acceptance of the spiritual truths of the 
New Church will become possible, the church 
will be brought into closer communion with her 
God, and the pride of naturalistic learning and 
the exaltation of rationalistic self-intelligence 
will fade away in the presence of a growing love 
for the spiritual truths and precepts of spiritual 
living which have been revealed from on high. 

Therefore the restoration of the Jewish Church 
to its former grandeur, represented by the author 
of Daniel as about to occur after a Babylonian 
captivity consisting of seventy weeks of years, 
is really the restoration of the Christian Church, 
and also of the Jewish Church, to which these 
promises of restoration were originally made, 

1 Jeremiah xxxiii., 6-n. 



Desolation of the Church 161 

to the former state of comparative religious integ- 
rity which preceded the evils causing and repre- 
sented by the Babylonian captivity; for when in 
the upward progression of the race the evils of 
the Babylon of self -intelligence and self -exaltation 
are removed, the capacity which previously existed 
in the souls of men to receive more interior and 
spiritual things will be restored, and the "desper- 
ate wounds" of the church will be healed. 

It is often promised in the Old Testament that 
the Jews will be gathered again to Jerusalem and 
Zion from all the countries of the earth whither 
they have been driven, but this does not neces- 
sarily mean their bodily return to Jerusalem and 
Palestine; for if the Jews, from their present 
unspiritual states of mind which most of the 
countries they now occupy represent, come into 
an acknowledgment of the Lord as the only God 
and worship Him for His incomparable greatness 
and sole divinity, they will in spirit be brought 
again to Jerusalem and Zion, which correspond 
to these venerative states of mind, and will dwell 
there much more truly than if they returned to 
Jerusalem in person, but had no such acknowl- 
edgment and worship of the Lord. 

Hence these Old Testament prophecies will be 
spiritually fulfilled even to the Jews themselves; 
and it is evident that their literal fulfillment was 
never intended by the Divine Mind. Externalism 
and literalism in the interpretation of the Scrip- 
tures have been the bane of the Jewish as well 



1 62 The Prophecies of Daniel 

as of the Christian Church, and it is time they 
both began to pay more attention to what God 
means by the statements contained in His own 
Word, inspired by Himself, than to what the 
human instruments used in giving expression to 
these statements had in mind when they wrote 
down the Divinely inspired words. It is not God's 
predictions and promises that are at fault, but 
the fault lies with men who willfully refuse to 
understand His statements even when their true 
meaning is clearly explained. Yet it is foretold. 
"In the latter days ye shall understand it" 1 ; and 
it is these "latter days" which form the subject 
of the present volume, and which will certainly 
come to pass within the next two or three centuries. 

In verses twenty-four to twenty-seven of this 
ninth chapter the seventy weeks of years are divided 
into three separate periods. The first period is one 
of seven weeks of years, or forty-nine years, and 
extends from the promise by Jeremiah of the res- 
toration of the Jewish Church after the Babylonian 
exile to the beginning of the Jewish Church after 
the exile under Joshua, the first high priest of the 
rebuilt Jewish temple, who is probably meant by 
the "anointed one, the prince." The second 
period is one of sixty-two weeks of years, or 434 
years, during which the city of Jerusalem, and 
the doctrine of the church, which it represents, 
were built up again in times of trial and temptation. 
This period probably ends with the assassination 

1 Jeremiah xxx., 24. 



Desolation of the Church 163 

of the Jewish high priest Onias III, when the 
direct line of the priesthood was broken off in 
the Jewish Church ; for he probably represents 
the "anointed one" who was "cut off and had 
nothing" of verse twenty-six. The third period 
consists of one week of years, or seven years 
(171-164B.C.), the latter half of which constitutes 
the three and a half years referred to in Daniel 
as a "time and times and half a time." The 
"prince" of verses twenty-six and twenty-seven 
is Antiochus Epiphanes, and the firm covenant 
made with many for this one week of years seems 
to be his cooperation with numerous apostate Jews 
to destroy the religion of the faithful members of 
the Jewish Church. The sacrifice and meal-offering 
which this prince caused to cease in the middle 
of the week, or for half of the week, is an allusion 
to the suspension of the temple services of the 
Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 B.C. The 
spiritual meaning of these historical events with 
reference to the Jewish Church will be clear from 
the following interpretation of the ninth chapter 
of Daniel. 

In the first perceptive state of the spirit of intel- 
lectual imaginativeness, developed from the per- 
ceptions of intellectual imagination, who took on 
the characteristics of comparing inferential ration- 
alism, at the beginning of his reign I, the represen- 
tative of the perceptive element of the true church, 
understood from the Scriptures the nature of the 
religious states of mind which that part of the Word 



1 64 The Prophecies of Daniel 

which treats of the devastation of the church by 
self -intelligence and profane worship teaches will 
have to be experienced before the desolations of the 
church caused by such self-intelligence and self- 
exalting worship will come to an end, even an en- 
tire series of desolated states. 

And I directed my inward mind to the Lord 
God, and applied myself to prayer and supplica- 
tions, mourning because of the absence of good 
and truth in the church, in consequence of its 
evil ways and false thoughts. And I prayed to 
Jehovah my God, and made confession, and said, 
Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, Who con- 
joins Himself and shows loving kindness to them 
that love Him and keep His commandments, we 
have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have 
done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning 
aside from Thy precepts and from Thy religious 
ordinances; neither have we hearkened to the 
truths of good life contained in Thy Word, which 
were spoken in Thy name to our greater and 
our lesser rulers, and to our fathers, and to all the 
people of the church. Lord, righteousness be- 
longs to Thee, but to us, an inward sense of 
shame, as at this day; to those who are of the 
emotional church, and to those who acknowledge 
Jehovah's sole Divinity, and to all the members 
of the intellectual church, that are internal or 
external, throughout all the natural states of mind 
whither they have been driven, because of their 
trespass that they have trespassed against Thee. 



Desolation of the Church 165 

O Lord, to us belongs an inward sense of shame, 
to our greater and our lesser rulers, and to our 
fathers, because we have sinned against Thee. To 
the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness; 
for we have rebelled against Him, neither have we 
obeyed the teachings of Jehovah our God, to 
live according to His laws, which He set before 
us through those who taught the truth that leads 
to good life. Yea, all the church have trans- 
gressed Thy law, even turning aside that they 
should not obey Thy teachings. Therefore have 
been fulfilled upon us the spiritual misery of which 
we were warned, and the dire consequences of 
wrong doing and thinking which were predicted 
in the laws of spiritual life contained in the Word, * 
which are serviceable to a good life from God; 
for we have sinned against these laws. And the 
teachings of the laws of spiritual life, which 
foretold the results of wrong doing to us and to 
our leaders who taught us, have been confirmed 
by there coming upon us a great trouble; for in 
the whole church has not been done as has been 
done upon the church founded on the acknowl- 
edgment of Jehovah's sole divinity. As it is 
written in the laws of spiritual life contained in 
the Word, all this trouble is come upon us; yet 
have we not entreated the favor of Jehovah our 
God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and 
have discernment in Thy truth. Therefore has 
Jehovah, in accordance with His eternal laws, 

1 Deuteronomy xxviii., 15-68. 



1 66 The Prophecies of Daniel 

allowed this trouble to come upon us ; for Jehovah 
our God is righteous in all His works which He 
does, and we have not obeyed His teachings. And 
now, O Lord our God, That with mighty power 
hast brought Thy people forth out of a state of 
mere knowledge of spiritual things, and hast 
thereby, as always, revealed Thy true spiritual 
nature; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 

Lord, according to all Thy righteousness, let, 

1 pray Thee, the goodness and truth of Thy 
presence be turned again toward Thy church which 
should acknowledge Thee as the only God, and 
revere Thee in true worship ; because for our sins, 
and for the iniquities we have inherited from our 
fathers, our church and Thy people are become a 
reproach to all that are round about us. Now 
therefore, O our God, hearken to the prayer of 
Thy servant, and to his supplications, and be 
merciful to Thy church that is desolate, for Thine 
own goodness' sake. O my God, give heed and 
hear, direct Thine attention and behold our deso- 
lations, and the church which is called by Thy 
name: for we do not present our supplications 
before Thee for our righteousnesses, but for Thy 
great mercies' sake. O Lord, hear; O Lord, 
forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not; 
for Thine own sake, O my God, because Thy 
church and Thy people are called by Thy name. 

And while I was communing, and praying, and 
confessing my sin and the sin of the people of my 
church, presenting my supplication before Jehovah 



Desolation of the Church 167 

my God for the church of my God founded on 
true worship of Him ; yea, while I was communing 
in prayer, the representative of the angels who 
excel in the perception of what is good and the 
knowledge of doctrine, whose presence I had 
perceived in the revelation at the beginning, 
being gifted with swift spiritual perception, illu- 
mined me in my obscure state of worship. And 
he instructed me, and talked with me, and said, 
representative of the perceptive element of the 
true church, I am now come forth to give thee 
wisdom and understanding. At the beginning 
of thy supplications the commandment went 
forth, and I am come to tell thee; for thou art 
greatly beloved. Therefore consider the matter, 
and understand the revelation. 

A full state of devastation is decreed upon thy 
church and its doctrines confirmed by the Word, 
in order that its evils and falsities may come to 
their full measure and so to their end, that its 
iniquity may be done away with, that a permanent 
distinction and separation may be made between 
what is good and what is evil, that the need for 
revelation and prophecy may cease, and that the 
new church then to be established may be con- 
secrated to heavenly living from God. Know 
therefore and discern that from the utterance of 
the prophecy in regard to the restoration and 
establishment of the church founded on the ac- 
knowledgment of Jehovah's sole divinity to the 
resumption of the rule of the Divine goodness in 



168 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the church will be one complete emotional period. 
For a full period of thoughtfulness the church will 
be established anew with generally accepted truths 
and confirmatory scriptural proofs, but with diffi- 
culty. And after this thoughtful period the spirit 
of Divine goodness will be cut of! from the 
church, and will have no reception in it; and the 
followers of the ruling spirit of subtle perversion 
that will come will destroy the church and its 
doctrines from the Word; and the end thereof 
will be with a flood of false appearances, and even 
to the end there will be conflict between truth and 
falsity; a complete destruction of the truth is 
inevitable. And the ruling spirit of subtle per- 
version will establish a strong following for a 
final period of knowledge; and for the latter part 
of this period he will cause the emotional and 
intellectual worship of Jehovah to cease; and 
through the power of thinking out abominable 
falsities, he will turn the truths of the church into 
falsities; and even to the full end of the church, 
and that inevitable, will a complete destruction 
of all good and truth be wrought in the desolated 
church. 

With reference to the future, the ninth chapter 
of Daniel predicts that the future receivers of the 
New Church within the Christian Church will 
perceive from the Word that the spiritual desola- 
tions of their church will not cease until the accu- 
mulating series of falsities and evils caused by 
self -intelligence and self -exaltation, and handed 



Desolation of the Church 169 

down through numberless generations, have been 
cast out; and that they will therefore, with sincere 
contrition and repentance, supplicate the Lord to 
remove these great evils from them, and to restore 
His presence to the church. They will afterward 
perceive, from angelic illumination, the truth re- 
garding the end of the Christian Church and 
the establishment of the New Church. As the 
modern application of the prophecies of Daniel 
has reference to the Christian Church, and as 
the ''half of the week" referred to in the twenty- 
seventh verse is the same as the period of ' ' a time 
and times and half a time," which, as elsewhere 
shown, the religious world in general is now entering 
upon, it is evident that the other periods pre- 
ceding the half week must in such modern applica- 
tion describe stages in the history of the Christian 
Church antecedent to the present. In this appli- 
cation, the first period of seven weeks of the 
seventy years, which Jeremiah prophesied would 
be the length of the Babylonian captivity, may 
be regarded as extending from the time of Jere- 
miah's prophecy to the coming of the Lord, Who 
is the "anointed- prince" or Messiah; the second 
period of sixty- two weeks extends from the estab- 
lishment of the Christian Church by the Lord 
to the time of that church's falling away from 
Him by transferring the Lord's Divine power to 
the popes, and thus not acknowledging the divinity 
in His humanity; the third period of one week 
extends from the Reformation to the partial end 



170 The Prophecies of Daniel 

of the Christian Church, which will occur some 
two hundred or two hundred and fifty years from 
now at a time which will parallel in modernity 
the ancient times of Jeremiah. The presence of 
the ruling spirit of subtle perversion in the Chris- 
tian Church at the time of the Reformation, which 
spirit is denoted by the "prince" of verses twenty- 
six and twenty-seven, is apparent in the doctrine 
of faith alone invented by Melancthon and Luther, 
by means of which they and their followers falsi- 
fied and destroyed the truths of the Christian 
Church. 1 - 

In the future first perceptive state of the spirit 
of intellectual imaginativeness, developed from 
the perceptions of intellectual imagination, which 
in the future Christian Church will acquire the char- 
acteristics of comparing inferential rationalism, at 
the beginning of this spirit's reign the representa- 
tives of the perceptive element of the New Church 
within the Christian Church will understand from 
the Scriptures the nature of the religious states of 
mind which that part of the Word which treats 
of the devastation of the church by self-intelligence 
and profane worship teaches will have to be experi- 
enced before the desolations of the church caused 
by such self-intelligence and self -exalting worship 
will come to an end, even an entire series of 
desolated states. 

1 On this interpretation, see Apocalypse Explained, 684^-42; 
Brief Exposition of the Psalms and Prophets, pp. 87, 88; Scrip- 
ture Confirmations of New Church Doctrine, p. 32. 



Desolation of the Church 171 

Then these representatives of the perceptive 
element of the New Church will direct their in- 
ward mind to the Lord, and apply themselves 
to prayer and supplications, mourning because of 
the absence of good and truth in the Christian 
Church in consequence of its evil ways and false 
thoughts. They will confess their sin and the 
sin of the Christian Church in turning away from 
the Lord, and not obeying the laws of spiritual 
life contained in His Word ; and will acknowledge 
that it is in consequence of such estrangement 
and disobedience that the direful penalties of 
wrong doing and thinking, of which the church 
had been warned in the Bible, have fallen upon 
them. Yet in spite of all these great troubles 
that have befallen it, the church has not turned 
from its evil ways, nor desired discernment in 
inward spiritual truth. Therefore these represen- 
tatives of the New Church will repent of their 
sin, and will entreat the Lord, Who has power to 
deliver from the state of external intellectualism, 
to remove these evil and false things from their 
minds, in order that His presence may again be 
restored to His church which is founded on the 
acknowledgment and worship of Him as the only 
God. 

While these representatives of the perceptive 
element of the New Church are communing with 
the Lord, and praying, and confessing their sin 
and the sin of the whole Christian Church, and 
presenting their supplication before God for the 



17 2 The Prophecies of Daniel 

church of their God founded on true worship of 
Him, the representatives of the angels who excel 
in the perception of what is good and the knowl- 
edge of doctrine, being gifted with swift spiritual 
perception, will illumine their minds in their ob- 
scure state of worship. By inflow into their 
minds the angels will give wisdom and under- 
standing to these representatives of the perceptive 
element of the New Church. At the beginning 
of their supplications the commandment will go 
forth to enlighten these representatives in regard 
to the desolation and end of the Christian Church ; 
for these receivers of New-Church doctrines will 
be greatly beloved by the Lord, and they should 
consider the matter carefully and accept the fol- 
lowing revelation vouchsafed to them. ''A full 
state of devastation is decreed upon your church 
and its doctrines confirmed from the Word, in 
order that its evils and falsities may come to their 
full measure and so to their end, that its iniquity 
may be done away with, that a permanent dis- 
tinction and separation may be made between the 
good and the evil, that the need for revelation 
and prophecy may cease, and that the new church 
then to be established may be consecrated to 
heavenly living from God. Know therefore and 
discern that from the utterance of the prophecy 
in regard to the restoration and establishment of 
the church founded on the acknowledgment of 
the Lord's divinity to the time of the Lord's 
coming into the world in His Divine humanity 



Desolation of the Church 173 

has been one complete emotional period. For a 
complete thoughtful period after His coming the 
church was established anew with generally 
accepted truths and confirmatory scriptural 
proofs, but with difficulty. r After this thoughtful 
period the Lord's power and divinity were cut off 
from Him by being transferred to the popes of 
the church, thus leaving nothing to the Lord ; and 
the followers of the ruling spirit of subtle perver- 
sion that then arose began the destruction of the 
doctrines of the Christian Church and of the Chris- 
tian Church itself; and the end of the Christian 
Church will be with a flood of false appearances, 
and even to the end there will be conflict between 
truth and falsity; a complete destruction of the 
truth is inevitable. The ruling spirit of subtle 
perversion established at the time of the Reforma- 
tion a strong following for a final period character- 
ized by knowledge; and for the latter half of this 
period of cognizant mentality the falsifying spirit 
of subtle perversion will cause the emotional and 
intellectual worship of the Lord to cease; and 
through the power of thinking out abominable 
falsities, 2 it will turn the truths of the Christian 



*"In troublous times" signifies "hardly and with difficulty, 
because with nations who have little perception of spiritual 
truth" {Apocalypse Explained, 684 s7 ). 

2 "Wing" signifies "thought regarding the truths of the Word 
and understanding of them, and this becomes a wing of abomina- 
tions when there is no spiritual affection for truth, which en- 
lightens truth and teaches it, but only a natural affection, which is 



174 The Prophecies of Daniel 

Church into falsities; and even until the end of 
the Christian Church, which is inevitable, will 
the destruction of all good and truth be wrought 
in the desolated church.' ' 

for the sake of reputation, glory, honor, and gain; and as this 
affection is infernal, it is abominable, since it is the source of 
nothing but falsities" (Idem, 6844 1 ). 



THE DIVINE HUMANITY 1 

THE spiritual being described in the tenth 
chapter of Daniel was an angel whom Jeho- 
vah filled with His presence, and who thus repre- 
sented not only the Divine Humanity as it existed 
in the heavens before the Lord's coming, but also 
the incarnate Divine Humanity which was to be, 
as is evident from a very similar description of 
the risen Lord in the Apocalypse. 2 

The "prince of the kingdom of Persia" and the 
"prince of Greece," spoken of in this chapter 
mean the patron-angels of these countries, who 
were thought to preside over their destinies and 
to guard their interests. The success or failure 
of these angels in their contests in the other world 
were supposed to regulate the success or failure 
of the countries themselves. As in the present 
case these patron angels are represented as antago- 
nistic to the Divine influence, they must stand for 
certain classes of evil and false spirits who obstruct 
the inflow of the Divine life into the men of the 
church, and who, by infusing their false thoughts 

1 Comprising Daniel x., i-xi., i. 

2 i., 13-15, see Apocalypse Revealed, 830; Apocalypse Explained, 
504; Heavenly Arcana, 10579; Spiritual Diary, 4846; Nine 
Questions, vi. 

175 



17 6 The Prophecies of Daniel 

and evil suggestions, hinder and prevent the Lord 
from gaining access to mankind. Against such 
spiritual enemies of men the Lord fights and 
conquers. z In an impersonal and individual sense 
these patron angels of the nations stand for evil 
and false things in the minds of men which with- 
stand the Lord and keep His presence distant 
from the soul. It is different, however, with 
Michael, who was the patron-angel of the Jews, 
for he represents the guardian angels who instill 
into the minds of the men of the true church the 
perception of what is true, and resist the advance 
of falsities. 

When the spirit of emotional imaginativeness 
ruling over the province of emotional imagination 
was fully developed in the church of ancient times, 
a thing was revealed to the representative of the 
perceptive element of the true religion, whose 
nature had become rationalized, and the thing 
was true, even a great conflict of ideas; and he 
understood the thing, and had understanding of 
the vision of revelation. In that state of the 
church I, the representative of the perceptive 
element of the true church, was mourning during 
an entire state of humiliation of the natural self- 
life. I took up no naturally pleasant ideas, 
neither did I receive naturalistic feelings or teach- 
ings, neither did I indulge in any natural enjoy- 
ments until a complete humbling of the natural 
self-life was accomplished. And while I was in a 

1 Heavenly Arcana., 653, 1664, 2406. 



The Divine Humanity 177 

thoughtfully perceptive state of mind in clearness 
of rational insight, I lifted up my mental vision, 
and looked, and, behold, a Divinely human being 
righteous in wisdom and conduct, 1 whose loving 
desire for inward conjunction with the church 
expressed itself in the highest Divine laws of good 
life, his outward nature was radiant with a pure 
love for spiritual truth, 2 and his inward nature was 
luminous with the swift perception of the applica- 
tions of the truths of correspondences, 3 and his 
mentality glowed with the fire of Divine love, and 
the ultimate plane of his life in relation to the 
church consisted of Divine laws prescribing good 
life in order that men may share in heavenly hap- 
piness, and his teachings of Divine truths were 
infinitely varied and comprehensive. 

And I, the representative of the perceptive 
element of the true church, alone saw the vision, 
for the men that were with me saw not the vision ; 
but a great uneasiness fell upon them, and they 
hastened to remove themselves. So I was left 
alone, and saw this great vision, and there re- 
mained no strength in me; for my natural glory 

1 "Linen" corresponds both to wisdom in regard to right 
conduct and to right conduct itself (see Worcester, Plants of the 
Bible, pp. 210-214). 

2 As it is uncertain just what precious stone is meant by the 
Hebrew word translated "beryl," the general correspondence 
given to the word by Swedenborg is followed {Heavenly Arcana, 
9872); the same is true of "Uphaz," the geographical location 
of which is unknown. 

3 On the meaning of lightning, see Kip, Animal and Plant Cor- 
respondences, pp. 236, 237. 



178 The Prophecies of Daniel 

was turned in me into corruption, and I retained 
no strength. Yet heard I the sound of his words, 
and when I heard the sound of his words, then 
was I in a deeply quiescent state of mind, with 
my interiors turned outward. 

And, behold, a Divine influence was communi- 
cated to me, which gave me new spiritual life on 
the plane of reason and inward memory. And 
he said to me, O representative of the perceptive 
element of the true church, thou man greatly 
beloved, understand the words that I speak to 
thee, and be established in spiritual life, for to 
thee am I now sent ; and when he had spoken this 
word to me, spiritual life began to be established 
in me. Then said he to me, Fear not, representa- 
tive of the perceptive true church; for from the 
first state of thy mind when thou didst set thy 
heart to understand, and to humble thyself before 
thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come 
because of thy words. But the perverse spirits 
that inspire the falsities of emotional imagination 
kept me back for an entire period of devastation; 
but, lo, the representative of the angels who excel 
in the perception of what is true, who constitute 
one of the chief divisions of the angels of heaven, 
came to help me, and I was victorious 1 there over 
the ruling falsities of emotional imagination. 
Now I am come to make thee understand what 

1 The Hebrew word translated "remained" is literally "left 
over," and probably means "had the advantage" or "was 
victorious." 



The Divine Humanity 179 

shall befall thy church in the latter days, for the 
vision is yet for many days. And when he had 
spoken to me according to these words, I turned 
my interiors outward and was unable to express 
spiritual thoughts. And, behold, one in the like- 
ness of the sons of men communicated his Divine 
influence to my power of expression; then I re- 
ceived ability to think and to speak spiritually, 
and I spoke and said to him that stood before me, 
my lord, by reason of the vision I struggle 
painfully to come into spiritual life, and I retain 
no strength. For how can the servant of this my 
lord commune with this my lord? for as for me, 
straightway there remained no strength in me, 
neither was life left in me. 

Then one like the appearance of a man commu- 
nicated his Divine influence to me again, and he 
strengthened me in spiritual life. And he said, 

man greatly beloved, fear not; peace be unto 
thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he 
spoke to me, I was strengthened in my spiritual 
life, and said, Let my Lord speak; for thou 
hast strengthened me. Then said he, Knowest 
thou wherefore I am come to thee ? and now will 

1 return to contend with the perverse spirits of 
emotional imagination; and when I go forth into 
outward life, lo, the perverse spirits of faith founded 
on mere intellectualism will come. But I will 
tell thee that which is certainly true, and there is 
none that supports me against these spirits but 
the representative of the angels who are in the 



180 The Prophecies of Daniel 

perception of what is true, who is your chief 
spiritual defender. And as for me, at the begin- 
ning of the rule of intellectual imaginativeness 
in the church I began actively to confirm and to 
strengthen him. 

In the future, the experiences of Daniel related 
in this chapter will be duplicated by the receivers 
of New-Church doctrines within the Christian 
Church. They will not see a vision of the Lord; 
but after a period of the humbling of the self-life 
within them, they will become very sensible of 
His presence, and will rise by degrees out of their 
previous naturalistic state of mind into a truly 
spiritual state, in which the Lord will reveal to 
them clearly and fully through the Word the 
circumstances pertaining to the end of the Chris- 
tian Church and the beginning of the New Church. 
In the ninth chapter a preliminary state of self- 
abnegation is described, which will result in the 
conjunction of these receivers of the New Church 
with the heavenly societies represented by Gabriel, 
from whom they will obtain some general spiritual 
enlightenment; but the deeper humbling of the 
self -life described in the present chapter will effect 
a removal of the evils of self -intelligence and self- 
exaltation, which estranged them from the Lord 
and kept His presence from them, and it will bring 
about their conjunction with the Lord Himself 
in His Divine Humanity, and thereby give them 
the capacity for more complete spiritual enlighten- 
ment. 



The Divine Humanity 181 

When in the future Christian Church the spirit of 
emotional imaginativeness ruling over its doctrines 
of emotional imagination has become fully devel- 
oped, the representatives of the perceptive element 
of the New Church within the Christian Church 
will perceive the meaning of the revelation made 
to Daniel, their ancient prototype, and they will 
perceive that the revelation is true, and has refer- 
ence to a great conflict of ideas in the Christian 
Church; and they will have a true spiritual 
understanding of the revelation. During these 
imaginative states of mind in the Christian Church 
these representatives of the perceptive New Church 
will mourn over the condition of affairs for an 
entire state of humiliation of the natural self -life. 
They will take up no naturally pleasant ideas, 
nor receive natural feelings or teachings, nor 
indulge in any natural enjoyments, until a com- 
plete humbling of the natural self-life is accom- 
plished. While they are then in a thoughtfully 
perceptive state of mind and in clearness of rational 
insight, their minds will be lifted up, and they 
will perceive the Lord as He is in His Divine 
Humanity, righteous in wisdom and conduct, 
His loving desire for inward conjunction with the 
church finding expression in the highest Divine 
laws of good life contained in the Word, His 
outward nature being radiant with a pure love for 
spiritual truth and His inward nature luminous 
with swift perceptions of applications of the truths 
of correspondences, His mentality glowing with 



1 82 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the fire of Divine love, the ultimate plane of His 
life in relation to the church consisting of Divine 
laws prescribing a good life in order that men may 
share in heavenly happiness, and His teachings 
of Divine truths being infinitely varied and com- 
prehensive. 

These representatives of the perceptive element 
of the New Church alone will perceive the Lord 
in His Divine Humanity; for the others of the 
Christian Church will not perceive Him, but a great 
uneasiness will fall upon them, and they will has- 
ten away from that Divine presence and that 
spiritual state of mind. So these representatives 
of the New Church will be left alone in their 
inward state of mind, and will feel the Lord's 
Divine presence with them, and none of their 
former naturalistic strength of mind will remain 
in them ; for their natural glory will be turned into 
corruption before the Divine presence, and they 
will retain no natural strength. Yet they will 
be able to have some perception from spiritual 
inflow from Him; and such perception will come 
to them in the midst of a deeply quiescent state 
of mind with their interiors turned outward. 

The Divine influence will then be communicated 
to them, and it will give them new spiritual life 
on the plane of the reason and inward memory. 
Then the Lord, by Whom these representatives 
of the New Church will be greatly beloved, will 
enlighten their minds in regard to the meaning 
of the words that are written in this revelation 



The Divine Humanity 183 

made to Daniel, and will uplift them into a spirit- 
ual state of life, for which purpose He will become 
present with them; and when they receive en- 
lightenment and inflow from Him, they will begin 
to live on a spiritual plane. Then the Lord will 
accommodate His Divine love to their power of 
reception; for when they first set their heart to 
understand the truth and to humble their self- 
life before their God, the prayers of the repre- 
sentatives of the New Church will be heard, and 
the Lord will come to them. But the spirit forces 
which instill false imaginative ideas into the Chris- 
tian Church and into the minds of these repre- 
sentatives will prevent the Lord from becoming 
consciously present with them until these falsities 
are fully vastated and removed, a work in which 
the class of angels who excel in the perception of 
what is true will help the Lord, Who will overcome 
the false imaginative doctrines ruling in their minds. 
Therefore He will be able to become present with 
them, and to enlighten them as to what will befall 
the Christian Church at its end, which, long ago 
foretold, is now at hand. Although these represen- 
tatives of the perceptive New Church will perceive 
these things from the Lord's spirit, yet they will 
revert to an outward state of mind once more, and 
be unable to express spiritual thoughts. Then the 
Lord in His Divine Humanity will communicate 
His Divine influence to their power of spiritual 
thought and expression; and they will begin to 
think and to speak spiritually, and will confess to 



1 84 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the Lord that their inability to think on a spiritual 
plane is because of the great difficulty of coming 
into a truly spiritual from a natural state of mind, 
and of thinking from the Lord's spirit within them, 
as this causes a suspension of former natural 
activities. Then for a third time the Lord in His 
Divine Humanity will communicate His influence 
to these beloved representatives of the New 
Church, and will strengthen and establish them 
in their new spiritual life, accommodating His 
presence to their power of reception. When they 
are thus .strengthened in spirituality, these repre- 
sentatives of the New Church will be able and 
willing to be enlightened directly by the Lord, 
Who will be obliged to contend with the spirit 
forces infesting the Christian Church with false 
imaginings just as He fights against these falsities 
in the minds of the New Church representatives, 
and on a lower plane He must needs also contend 
with the spirit forces that inspire the falsities of 
faith founded on mere critical intellectualism. The 
meaning of the revelation which these representa- 
tives will perceive from the Lord will be absolutely 
true, and only those under the influence of the de- 
fending angels who excel in the perception of what 
is true will be able to support the Lord in His con- 
flict with these false ideas ; therefore the Lord at the 
commencement of the rule of the falsities of intel- 
lectual imaginativeness in the Christian Church will 
begin actively to confirm and strengthen these an- 
gels and their representatives on earth in this work. 



DISSENSIONS IN THE CHURCH 1 

THE three kings of Persia referred to in the 
second verse of this eleventh chapter repre- 
sent emotional imagination in perception, thought, 
and knowledge, and the fourth king, who is Xerxes, 
represents in this series emotional imagination in 
expression or teaching. The fourth king's stirring 
up all against the realm of Greece is an allusion 
to the expedition of Xerxes against Greece, which 
represented the attack of youthful imaginative 
teachings upon the conclusions of the critical 
mind founded on comparison. The "mighty 
king" of verse four is Alexander the Great, who, 
as already explained, stands for a strong, self- 
intelligent faith based on the deliberations of the 
critical mind ; and the breaking up of his kingdom 
is the division of Alexander's empire after his 
death. The "king of the south" of verse five 
and throughout this chapter is the king of Egypt, 
and the "king of the north" is the king of Syria. 
Although different kings of Egypt and Syria are 
thus designated in this chapter, as they are not 
specially distinguished the same general meaning 
will be assigned to them all. The "king of the 
1 Comprising Daniel xi., 2-39. 
185 



1 86 The Prophecies of Daniel 

south" in the fifth verse is Ptolemy I, king of 
Egypt; and "one of his princes," who is to be 
stronger than he and have great dominion, is 
Seleucus I, king of Syria, who at the partition of 
Alexander's empire received the province of Baby- 
lon as his share, but, who, on being compelled to 
relinquish this territory for a while, took refuge 
with Ptolemy in Egypt, as his general, until he was 
able to regain his Babylonian province. Soon 
after obtaining his kingdom he removed his capital 
to Antioch in Syria, and hence his whole kingdom 
became centrally and essentially Syrian. 

Egypt corresponds to the knowledge of the 
things of the spiritual world and to the knowledge 
of spiritual things in general, as is amply evidenced 
by the absorbing interest in the things of the 
other world which Egyptians have shown at all 
periods of their history; their monuments and 
their literature are filled with descriptions of 
man's life after death displaying a great deal of 
true knowledge about the other world, and they 
have always been deeply concerned in spiritual 
matters in general. 1 Such extensive interest in 
the things of the other world is characteristic of 
Egypt in the ancient period now under considera- 
tion, which extends from Alexander the Great 

1 See Kip, Psychology of the Nations, pp. 136-140. Swedenborg 
states that Egypt represents the knowledge of celestial and spirit- 
ual things, or knowledges from the Word {Heavenly Arcana, 
1462); the outward knowledges which conduce to spiritual life 
(Idem, 4749) ; the outward knowledges which are of the church 
(Idem, 4964, 5213, 5223, 7779). 



Dissensions in the Church 187 

to Antiochus Epiphanes; and even the learned 
Greeks settled in Alexandria in Egypt delighted 
in expounding obscure myths of the gods and 
demi-gods. As Macedonia corresponds to faith 
in God's power to do His will, therefore Egypt 
under the Macedonian rule of the Ptolemies cor- 
responds to faith in God's power to do His will 
as shown in the events of the spirit world, or more 
generally to faith founded on the knowledge of 
spiritual things. There are many evidences that 
such was the meaning of Egypt under the Ptole- 
mies. In the Greek literature of Alexandria, 
which was the most prominent literary center of 
the times, such faith in God and His power to do 
His will was supported mainly by the facts of 
mythology in regard to the gods and their mighty 
acts, various legends being told for the purpose 
of magnifying the power of the gods and warning 
mortals against disobedience. These elements 
are conspicuous in the poem Hermes of Eratosthe- 
nes, who begins a scientific treatise on astronomy 
with an account of the birth and early career of 
the gods; in the twenty-second idyl of Theo- 
critus, who celebrates the great power of the 
gods Castor and Pollux to succor and to con- 
quer in battle; in the hymns of Callimachus, 
which teem with mythological details in regard 
to the lives of the gods, and express firm belief 
in their power to do their pleasure; and in the 
poetry of Apollonius Rhodius and other Alexan- 
drine poets, who always represent love affairs as 



1 88 The Prophecies of Daniel 

governed by the puissant will of Aphrodite and 
the darts of Eros. 

In the frequent battles between Syria and Egypt, 
which are referred to in the eleventh chapter of 
Daniel, the armies of Egypt stand for the com- 
bative arguments adduced by faith founded on 
the knowledge of spiritual things; but it is uncer- 
tain just what form these arguments took in ancient 
times. As mere knowledge almost invariably 
tends to literalism, it seems likely that the argu- 
ments represented by the armies of Egypt were 
arguments based on the literal interpretation of 
spiritual things, which attempted to explain myth- 
ological and other literature by an array of vast 
learning bearing on the subject. Such learned 
literalism is apparent in the Alexandrine litera- 
ture of the period, which was marked by detailed 
learning, perfection of form, and the absence of 
great originality: 

"It is the literature of academies, the poetry 
of literary cliques, the criticism of pedants, at 
best the cold thinking of pure men of science." 1 

Syria corresponds to the knowledge of corre- 
spondences or symbols 2 ; but at the ancient period 
under consideration, when the knowledge of true 
correspondences was lost, Syria represented the 
knowledge of symbolic or allegorical things framed 
more or less by the self -intelligence of the natural 
mind. Although the ancient literature of Syria 

1 J. P. Mahaffy, Greek Life and Thought, p. 328. 
3 Kip, Psychology of the Nations, pp. 68, 70. 



Dissensions in the Church 189 

has perished, symbolism was a marked feature 
of its art during this period. 1 

The powerful political influences of Syria and 
Egypt during this era were reflected in the sym- 
bolism and spiritualism which profoundly affected 
the thought of the Jews. 2 This is evident from 
the extraordinary use of symbolism in the book of 
Daniel as well as from the important position 
assigned in it to the activities of the inhabitants 
of the other world. The same fact is attested 
by sections of the book of Enoch which were 
composed both earlier and later than 166 B.C., 
the probable date of the book of Daniel. The 
earliest section of Enoch, 3 which could not have 
been written later than 170 B.C., and may well 
have been composed during the period of Macedo- 
nio-Egyptian supremacy over Palestine, describes 
with detailed learning the names and functions 
of the seven archangels, the realms of sheol and 
paradise, the deeds of fallen angels, and other 
phenomena peculiar to the spirit world. The 
section which was composed between 166 and 161 
B.C., 4 and hence during the Macedonio-Syrian 
supremacy, abounds in the same kind of symbol- 
ism that characterizes the book of Daniel. But 
even in this latter section' the supernatural element 
is still strong ; for the author represents the people 

1 J. P. Mahaffy, Greek Life and Thought, p. 120. 

2 S. R. Driver, Daniel, Introduction, pp. lxxvi-lxxxi. 

3 Chapters i.-xxxvi. 

* Chapters Ixxxiii.-xc. (R. H. Charles, Book of Enoch, pp. 25-27). 



190 The Prophecies of Daniel 

of Israel as entrusted to the care of seventy angels 
called shepherds, and claims that the woes of 
Israel were caused by these angels being over- 
zealous in the performance of their duties. 

The intermediate region of Coele-Syria, Phoeni- 
cia, and Palestine, constituting practically the 
land of Canaan as originally allotted to the Israel- 
ites, was a source of contention between the kings 
of Syria and Egypt during this period. Both 
countries claimed it, and its possession passed 
frequently from the one to the other. As the 
land of Canaan represented the true church, and 
as the true religion of the Jews was then in Palestine, 
this continual dispute over its possession by the 
kings of Egypt and Syria must correspond to 
endeavors by a false theology founded on the 
literal knowledge of spiritual things and by a 
false theology founded on symbolism to possess 
and to rule over the true church; and the warfare 
which waged between these ancient kingdoms 
of Syria and Egypt corresponds to the conflict be- 
tween self -intelligent symbolical interpretations and 
literal interpretations of spiritual things. Among 
the Jews themselves there were no doubt adher- 
ents of both these antagonistic pagan methods 
of interpretation, although the polemic litera- 
ture of such dissensions within the Jewish Church 
of the period does not seem to have survived. 
But in the middle of the second century B.C., 
we find a commentary on the Pentateuch by the 
Jewish philosopher Aristobulus, the aim of which 



Dissensions in the Church 191 

was to put a construction upon the sacred text 
that would make it appeal even to Greek readers, 
and to get rid of all anthropomorphic utterances 
about God ; and a little over a century later Philo, 
an Alexandrian Jew, employs an exegetical method 
of allegorical interpretation of the Scriptures 
which had been practiced before his date in the 
rabbinical schools of Palestine, and Philo spe- 
cially refers to its use by his predecessors. There 
is also abundant evidence of the self -intelligent 
literalism of many of the Jews of this period in 
the literal tendency of the legalistic teachings 
which dominated Jewish thought during this era. 
Such antagonistic methods of interpretation could 
not have failed to come into conflict with each 
other in the Jewish Church, even though we have 
no extant evidence on the subject. 

The prince or commander of verse eighteen, 
who would cause the reproach offered by Antiochus 
to cease, is Lucius Cornelius Scipio, a Roman 
commander who signally defeated Antiochus the 
Great at the battle of Magnesia in B.C., 190. The 
exact significance of this historical event is not 
entirely clear. The city of Rome seems to cor- 
respond to the resolute giving of an ultimatum, 
and as a part of Italy it signifies the faculty of the 
volition or will, J and, as above stated, Antiochus 
as king of Syria corresponds to faith in symbolical 
interpretations. Antiochus the Great conquered 
most of the cities of Asia Minor, and even crossed 

1 Kip, Psychology of the Nations, pp. 122-124. 



192 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the Hellespont and seized parts of present Tur- 
key and Greece; but he was defeated by the 
Romans in Greece, and afterward thoroughly van- 
quished by them at Magnesia in Asia Minor. The 
success at first of the Syrian armies under Antio- 
chus the Great indicates that the arguments of 
symbolic or allegorical interpretations were widely 
victorious in the ancient world, and extended 
their sway for a brief period even over the ideas 
formed by conscience, faith, and critical intel- 
lectualism; but the subsequent defeat of the 
Syrians by the Romans indicates that these sym- 
bolic interpretations were finally subjugated by 
the arguments of the will. But why should the 
will of the race have been hostile to such symbol- 
ism? In the case of Carthage, which as a part 
of present Tunisia, corresponded to the sexual 
passions of youth, 1 the hostility of the Romans 
and the Punic Wars represented the struggles and 
final victory of the youthful will of the world 
against the powerful passions which threatened 
to engulf it ; but there is no such obvious applica- 
tion in the case of Syria. The true explanation 
seems to be that the ancient Romans were ad- 
ministrative and practical rather than intellec- 
tual or theoretical in their nature, and hence as 
practical men of affairs they were more or less 
opposed to the symbolic and allegorical teachings 
of Syria. Of course the imperious will of the Ro- 
mans would brook no rival in power, nor would 
1 Kip, idem, pp. 150, 151. 



Dissensions in the Church 193 

they permit the rule of such allegorical ideas to 
encroach upon the domain of the will and its 
principles, yet they seem to have had an inward 
antipathy toward the Syrians, as is shown by 
the meaning of the ships of Kittim coming against 
the Syrian king. 1 By Kittim is probably meant 
here the islands and coastlands of the Mediter- 
ranean; and as the Mediterranean corresponds to 
particulars of outward knowledge, 2 the inhabitants 
of its islands and coastlands correspond in a general 
way to those who are in such particulars of out- 
ward knowledge. In the present case the ships of 
Kittim refer to the Roman legates sent by the 
Roman Senate to Antiochus Epiphanes, who was 
invading Egypt, to demand his immediate cessa- 
tion of hostilities against Egypt. As Egypt cor- 
responds to the knowledge of spiritual things and 
the literalizing tendency of such knowledge, the 
fact that the Romans favored the Egyptian cause 
against the Syrian seems to indicate that the 
practical men of outward affairs of the day favored 
the literal method of interpretation as against 
the symbolic or allegorical method then in vogue, 
and demanded that the argumentative attacks 
by the adherents of symbolism upon literal ideas 

1 Verse 30. An additional reason for the Roman antipathy to 
the Syrians may be that in the ancient times under consideration 
Rome held sway over the islands off the coast of Dalmatia, sev- 
eral of which, i. e., Lissa, Brazza, Lesina, and Curzola, corre- 
spond to faith in the literal sense of the Bible. To-day Italy has 
again obtained possession of these islands. 

2 Kip, Psychology of the Nations, pp. 69, 70. 

13 



194 The Prophecies of Daniel 

and interpretations should be stopped, or the op- 
position of their will would be incurred. 

The vile person referred to in verse twenty-one 
is Antiochus Epiphanes, who as king of Syria 
stands for the subtle power of perverting the 
truth through symbolic or allegorical interpreta- 
tions. 

The context of the words, "He shall not regard 
the desire of women" in verse thirty-seven seems 
to require the name of some god as the object of 
women's desire, and it is likely that the Babylo- 
nian and 'Syrian god Tammuz is meant, who was 
the husband of the goddess Ishtar in her youth, 
and whose death she bitterly bewailed. These 
divinities were known to the Greeks as Adonis 
and Aphrodite, and the festival of Adonis con- 
sisted largely in an imitation of the mourning 
of Aphrodite, and hence was specially observed 
by the women. Moreover, in Greek literature 
Adonis is sometimes styled the "thrice desired" 
Adonis. 1 If this is the correct interpretation of 
the above-mentioned words, the reference seems 
to be to the indifference of the subtle spirit of 
perversion to the mourned-for loss of the anthro- 
pomorphic conception of God held by the Jewish 
Church in its youth; and, with reference to the 
future, the indifference of the coming spirit of 
perversion to the grief of the Christian Church 
at the loss of her early idea of Jesus as the Son of 
God. A similar thought is expressed by these words 

1 S. R. Driver, Daniel, pp. 194, 195. 



Dissensions in the Church 195 

in Joel: " Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth 
for the husband of her youth." 1 

The meaning of the numerous other historical 
events alluded to in this eleventh chapter will be 
sufficiently clear from the spiritual interpretation 
which now follows. 

And now will I show thee the truth. Behold, 
there will arise in the Jewish Church yet three 
ruling phases of imaginative ideas in perception, 
thought, and knowledge, and the fourth ruling phase 
of imaginative teaching will possess more resources 
than they all; and when this imaginative teaching 
has become powerful through its great knowledge, 
it will attack the province of faith founded on the 
deliberations of the critical mind. And a powerful 
ruling spirit of self-intelligent faith founded on 
critical intellectualism will arise, that will rule 
with great dominion, and have its way. And 
after it is established, its rule will be dissolved, 
and will be divided into several self-intelligent 
faiths; but not to the legitimate developments 
of this first critical faith will the rule be, nor 
according to the greatness of its dominion, but its 
rule will be given to entirely new forms of faith. 

And the ruling spirit of faith founded on the mere 
knowledge of spiritual things will be strong in the 
Jewish Church; and another ruling spirit of faith 
founded on symbolism will become strong, stronger 
even than the former, and will have dominion; 
and its dominion will be a great dominion. And 

*i. 8. 



196 The Prophecies of Daniel 

after a while these two faiths will seek an alliance, 
and the love of literal interpretations will conjoin 
itself to the ruling spirit of symbolic interpretations 
in order to produce harmony between them; but 
this love of literal interpretations will lose its power 
in such a forced conjunction, and the ruling form 
of symbolic interpretations with which it was con- 
joined will not continue long, but will soon lose 
its sway in the Jewish Church. So the attempt 
to combine literal with symbolic interpretations 
will be abandoned, together with its confirmatory 
views, and the original idea from which it sprang 
and by which it was then kept alive. 

But a new ruling faith in literal interpretations 
will arise, related fundamentally to the love of 
conjoining literal with symbolic interpretations, 
which will shatter the strongly intrenched argu- 
ments of the spirit of symbolic interpretations, 
and overthrow them, and will prevail; and the 
self-intelligent religious theories and doctrines of 
life of the symbolists, together with their knowl- 
edges of truth and good, it will make confirm its 
own literal interpretations of spiritual things. 
After this the ruling faith in literalism will desist 
for some time from attacking the ruling faith in 
symbolic interpretations. Then the ruling spirit 
of symbolism will attack the positions of the spirit 
of literalism, but will retire in discomfiture to its 
own symbolic ideas. But new developments of 
this ruling spirit of symbolism will antagonize the 
spirit of literal interpretations, and will gather to- 



Dissensions in the Church 197 

gether a great multitude of arguments, with which 
they will inundate the Jewish Church, and they 
will impugn the Biblical views of the literalists. 
Then the ruling faith in literal interpretations 
will become greatly incensed, and will contend 
with the ruling faith in symbolic interpreta- 
tions, which will bring forth a great multitude 
of arguments in its favor; but its arguments will 
not hold their ground, but will be vanquished by 
the arguments of faith in literal interpretations, 
which will become elated with the victory. The 
faith in literal interpretations will overthrow 
numerous opposing views, but nevertheless will 
gain no permanent advantage. Then the ruling 
faith in symbolic interpretations will return to 
the conflict, and will set forth a multitude of 
arguments greater than before; and will make the 
attack, after due preparation, with a great array 
of arguments and learning. And in those times 
many will oppose the ruling faith in the literal 
interpretation of the Bible; also the perverters of 
the Bible within the Jewish Church will oppose this 
faith in order to establish their own religious theo- 
ries. But they will not succeed. Then the ruling 
spirit of symbolic interpretations will come, and will 
argue against the positions of the literalists, and 
will disprove one of their strongly intrenched 
views; and the arguments of the literalists will 
not be able to withstand these attacks, neither 
will the best minds among them be able to meet 
them. But the faith in symbolic interpretation 



i9 8 The Prophecies of Daniel 

will have its way, and none will be able to with- 
stand it ; and this faith will take up the interpreta- 
tion of the Bible, and will work destruction in it. 
And the spirit of symbolic interpretation will 
purpose to attack, with the strength of its whole 
resources, the spirit of literal interpretation; but 
nevertheless it will come to terms with the latter, 
even allowing the love of symbolic interpretations 
developed from itself to enter into conjunction 
with the spirit of literalism, in order that it may 
make the spirit of literalism subservient to itself 
should opportunity offer. But the plan will not 
succeed, nor turn out to its advantage. After 
this the spirit of symbolic interpretation will turn 
its attention to those who are in outward affairs, 
and will gain many converts; but the argumenta- 
tive leader of the strong-willed men of practical 
affairs will put an end to this victorious symbolic 
invasion, and will deal it a crushing repulse. 
Afterward this strenuous ruling spirit of symbol- 
ism will be obliged to confine its attention to its 
own strongly intrenched views; but it will begin 
to falter, grow weak, and finally disappear. 

Then another ruling spirit of faith in symbolic 
interpretation will arise in the Jewish Church, 
which will cause spiritual things to be appropri- 
ated for natural uses; but this spirit will shortly 
come to an end, though not through violent 
antagonism or fierce denunciation. And a new 
and despicable spirit of faith in symbolic interpre- 
tations will arise in the Jewish Church, to which 



Dissensions in the Church 199 

the honor of ruling does not rightfully belong; 
but it will come when people are unsuspicious of 
its real nature, and will obtain the rule by flatter- 
ing their self-love. And with a flood of false 
arguments will opposing views be swept away 
before it and shattered; yea, even the Jewish 
religion itself. And after the league made with 
this spirit of false symbolic interpretation it will 
work deceitfully; for it will grow and become 
strong with a comparatively small following. 
While the Jewish Church is unaware of its nature, 
this spirit of false symbolism will appropriate 
for its own theories the noblest truths of the 
church; and it will do what no other phase of 
thought immediately or long preceding it in the 
Jewish Church has done, — it will distribute to its 
followers in confirmation of its false theories an 
abundance of facts gathered from many depart- 
ments of learning; yea, for awhile it will devise 
the overthrow of the strongly intrenched views 
of the church which oppose it. And this perverse 
spirit of symbolism will exert its power and cun- 
ning against the ruling faith in literal interpreta- 
tions, with a great array of arguments; and the 
faith in literal interpretations will contend, with 
a vast array of combative learning; but it will 
not be successful in its contentions, because of 
the cunning of its adversaries. Yea, some of the 
close adherents of the faith in literalism, who 
accepted its choice truths, will work against it, 
and its array of argumentative learning will be 



200 The Prophecies of Daniel 

swept aside, and many of its adherents will lose 
their faith. And as for both these ruling literal 
and symbolic faiths, their inward impulse will 
be to do each other mischief, yet they will pretend 
to have regard and friendship for each other. 
But this insincerity will not prosper; for the end 
will be at the time appointed. 

From its conquests the ruling spirit of symbolic 
interpretation will return to its own province with 
great added learning, and its inward impulse will 
be hostile to the Jewish religion; and it will have 
its way, 'and will retire to its own province of 
symbolism. At the time appointed this perverse 
spirit of symbolism will turn its attention again 
to the spirit of literal interpretation of spiritual 
things, to combat it; but conditions will not be the 
same in the latter time as they were in the former. 
For the peremptory arguments of the strong-willed 
men of practical affairs will be brought to bear 
against the spirit of symbolism; therefore this 
perverse spirit of symbolism will be subdued, 
and will retire to its own province, and have in- 
dignation against the Jewish religion, and will 
have its way. It will return to its province of 
symbolism, and will plan to make use of the Jews 
who forsake the Jewish religion. And hostile 
arguments will be instigated by this subtle and 
perverse symbolic spirit, which will profane the 
fundamental truths of the Jewish Church, will 
take away the heartfelt worship of Jehovah as 
the only God, and will set up in place of holy 



Dissensions in the Church 201 

truths self -intelligent theories which desolate and 
destroy the church. And such as act contrary 
to the Jewish religion this spirit of false symboliz- 
ing will render corrupt by flattering their self- 
love; but the true worshipers of Jehovah will 
stand firm against this pagan tide of symbolistic 
culture, and will do brave deeds. And the wiser 
among the Jews will instruct many as to the true 
way; yet they will be subverted by falsities and 
evils, and by the deprivation of truth and good, 
for a long while. Now when the faithful Jews 
are being so subverted, they will receive some 
help from the combative arguments of their own 
party; but many who are pagan at heart will 
unite with them through plausible protestations. 
And some of them that are wise will fall into 
temptation, to refine them, and to purify, and to 
make them free from false ideas, even to the time 
of the end; for it is yet for the time appointed. 
And the ruling spirit of false symbolizing will have 
its way; and will exalt and magnify itself above 
every attribute of God, and will utter extra- 
ordinary impieties against Jehovah Himself; and it 
will prosper in the Jewish Church until the evil 
state therein has run its full course, for that 
which is determined will' be done. Neither will 
this perverse spirit of symbolism pay any regard 
to the God worshiped formerly, nor to the grief 
of the Jewish Church at the loss of their early 
anthropomorphic conception of God, nor will it 
respect any God; for it will magnify itself above 



202 The Prophecies of Daniel 

all. But instead it will honor the religious theo- 
ries constructed by its own self-intelligent argu- 
ments; and on a religious system which had no 
existence in any preceding phase of thought in the 
Jewish Church it will lavish a wealth of knowledge 
concerning good and true living, and concerning 
spiritual and natural truths in general. This 
perverse spirit of false symbolism will assail the 
most strongly intrenched truths of the Jewish 
Church through the aid of its own self -intelligence, 
which it exalts into a god; whoever acknowledge 
its supremacy it will load with honors, and it 
will make them rule over the many, and it will 
divide the government of the Jewish Church 
among those who most potently support its 
views. 

In their application to the future states of 
the Christian Church, the sequence of historical 
events mentioned in the eleventh chapter of Daniel 
should, strictly speaking, be reversed; but, as 
explained above, it is probable that these ancient 
phases of thought and life will recur more or less 
simultaneously, and will therefore probably give 
rise to different forms of conflict between the sym- 
bolists and the literalists in the Christian Church, 
most of which will be temporary in their influence. 
But the phases represented by the events in the 
life of Antiochus Epiphanes, who is the despicable 
person of verse twenty-one, are likely to continue 
some two centuries throughout the present intel- 
lectually perceptive period of Christianity. 



Dissensions in the Church 203 

Swedenborg explains the king of the north and 
his army as those who are in falsities, and the king 
of the south and his army as those who are in 
truths; and of the two it is possible that those 
who hold to the literal sense in the Christian 
Church of the future will retain the better elements 
of Christian knowledge in that church. On the 
other hand, however, the literalism that springs 
from the mere knowledge of spiritual things is 
often as subversive of real truth as is self -intelligent 
symbolism; and, moreover, Eg} r pt also denotes 
those who attempt to investigate the mysteries 
of faith, and the truths of the church by outward 
and scientific knowledge, and who thus pervert 
and destroy spiritual truth. 1 As an exclusively 
literal interpretation of the Bible is untenable, 
sooner or later the theories of the symbolists must 
conquer in the Christian Church; and this is 
meant by the king of the north finally becoming 
victorious over the king of the south. But the 
symbolism which will be employed in the Christian 
Church will not be a true symbolism founded upon 
a perception of correspondences; but it will be 
a symbolism evolved by the self -intelligence of 
the natural mind, which will tend to pervert the 
true spiritual meaning of the Bible, and will 
destroy even the literal sense itself. 

The king of the north or Syria denotes essen- 
tially the ruling faith in symbolic interpretation, 
but he denotes also all the other elements of pagan 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 1462, 5044, 5700. 



204 The Prophecies of Daniel 

ideas and culture which in ancient times were 
grouped around symbolism as a center. 

Although the following interpretation is given 
in the past tense in regard to the future receivers 
of the New Church within the Christian Church, 
who are represented by Daniel, the phases of 
religious thought and life herein described are 
probably still future in regard to us of the present 
day. 

The future receivers of the New Church within 
the Christian Church will be shown by the Lord 
from the Word that imaginative perception, 
thought, and knowledge have ruled in the Chris- 
tian Church, and also imaginative teaching, which 
possessed far more resources than all the rest; 
and when this imaginative teaching within the 
Christian Church grew strong through its abun- 
dance of learning, it attacked the faith founded on 
critical intellectualism. Then arose a powerful rul- 
ing spirit of self -intelligent faith founded on critical 
intellectualism, which ruled with great dominion 
over the minds of men, and had its way in the 
church ; but soon after it was established this self- 
intelligent, critical faith was dissolved, and divided 
into several separate forms of faith, which were 
not its legitimate developments, and did not have 
its wide influence, for its rule was taken away by 
entirely new forms of faith. 

The spirit of faith in the literal interpretation 
of the Bible was strong in the Christian Church, 
and also the spirit of symbolic interpretation ; and 



Dissensions in the Church 205 

the latter was stronger than the former, and ex- 
ercised a great influence. After a while these 
two faiths sought to become united; and the 
receptive love of symbolic interpretations was 
conjoined to the ruling perception of literal inter- 
pretations, in order to produce harmony between 
them. But the receptive love of symbolic inter- 
pretations lost its force in such an alliance, and 
the ruling perception of literal interpretations 
with which it was conjoined did not continue 
long, but soon lost its influence in the Christian 
Church. So the attempt to combine literal with 
symbolic interpretations was abandoned, together 
with all its confirmatory views, and the original 
idea from which it sprang and by which it was 
kept alive at that time. But a new ruling faith 
in literal interpretations arose in the Christian 
Church, related fundamentally to the love of 
conjoining symbolic with literal interpretations, 
which faith shattered the strongly intrenched argu- 
ments of the spirit of symbolic interpretation, and 
overthrew them, and prevailed; and the self -in- 
telligent religious theories and doctrines of life 
of the symbolists, together with their knowledges 
of truth and good, it made confirm its own literal 
interpretation of spiritual' things. After this the 
ruling spirit of literal faith desisted for some time 
from attacking the ruling spirit of symbolic faith. 
Then the ruling spirit of symbolic interpretation 
attacked the positions of literal interpretation, 
but retired without success to its own symbolic 



206 The Prophecies of Daniel 

ideas. But new developments of this spirit of 
symbolism began to antagonize the ruling spirit 
of literalism, and gathered together a great multi- 
tude of arguments, with which they inundated 
the Christian Church, and they impugned the 
Biblical views of the literalists. Then the ruling 
faith in literal interpretations became greatly in- 
censed, and gave combat to the faith in symbolic 
interpretations, which brought forth a great mul- 
titude of arguments in its favor; but these argu- 
ments did not hold their ground, but were 
vanquished by the arguments of the literalists, 
who became elated with their victory. The 
faith in literal interpretations then overthrew 
many opposing views, but nevertheless gained 
no permanent advantage. Then the ruling faith 
in symbolic interpretations returned to the conflict, 
and set forth a multitude of arguments greater 
than before, and after due preparation made an 
attack with a great array of arguments and learn- 
ing. During these conditions in the Christian 
Church many opposed the ruling faith in the 
literal interpretation of the Bible, and the men 
in the church who perverted the Bible by their 
interpretations opposed it in order to establish 
their own ideas; but their opposition did not 
succeed. Then the ruling spirit of symbolic in- 
terpretation came, and argued against the posi- 
tions of the literalists, and disproved one of 
their strongly intrenched views; and the argu- 
ments of the literalists could not withstand these 



Dissensions in the Church 207 

attacks, nor were the best minds among them 
able to meet them. So the faith in symbolic in- 
terpretation had its way in the Christian Church, 
and none were able to withstand it ; and the sym- 
bolists took up the interpretation of the Bible, 
and wrought destruction in it. This spirit of 
symbolic interpretation then purposed to attack 
the literalists with the strength of its whole re- 
sources; but nevertheless it came to terms with 
them, even permitting the receptive love of sym- 
bolic interpretations developed from itself to en- 
ter into conjunction with the spirit of literalism, 
in order to be in a position to make the spirit of 
literalism subservient to itself should opportunity 
offer. But the plan did not succeed, nor turn out 
to its advantage. After this the spirit of symbolic 
interpretation turned its attention toward those 
who are in outward affairs, and gained many 
converts ; but the argumentative leaders of strong- 
willed men of practical affairs put an end to its 
conquests, and dealt it a crushing repulse. After- 
ward this strenuous spirit of symbolic interpreta- 
tion was obliged to confine its attention to its 
own strongly intrenched views; but it began to 
falter, grew weak, and finally disappeared from 
the Christian Church. 

Then another ruling spirit of symbolism arose 
in the Christian Church, which caused spiritual 
things to be appropriated for natural uses; but 
this spirit shortly came to an end, though not 
through violent antagonism or fierce denunciation. 



208 The Prophecies of Daniel 

Among these temporary phases of thought and 
life in the Christian Church arose a more perma- 
nent, but despicable spirit of symbolic interpre- 
tation, 1 to which the honor of ruling did not 
rightfully belong; but the representatives of this 
perverse spirit of symbolism came at a time when 
people were unable to perceive their true nature, 
and obtained the rule by flattering their self-love. 
With a flood of false arguments opposing views 
were swept away before these representatives, and 
shattered; yea, even the Christian religion itself. 
After the league made with these representatives 
of false symbolism they worked deceitfully; for 
they rose and became powerful with a compara- 
tively small following. When the people of the 
Christian Church were unaware of their real 
nature, these representatives of the spirit of false 
symbolism appropriated for their own false theo- 
ries the noblest truths of the Christian Church; 
and they did what none of the preceding leaders 
of the church had done, in that they distributed 
to their followers in confirmation of their false 
theories an abundance of facts gathered from 
many departments of learning. Moreover, these 
representatives devised for a while the overthrow 
of the strongly intrenched views of the Christian 
Church which opposed their teaching. Then this 
perverse spirit of symbolism exerted its power and 
cunning against the ruling faith in literal inter- 

1 This spirit is despicable to Christians because it rejects the 
Divinity of their Lord, and denies the inspiration of His Word. 



Dissensions in the Church 209 

pretations, bringing to bear against it a great array 
of arguments ; and the faith in literal interpretations 
contended, employing a vast array of combative 
learning, but it was unsuccessful in its conten- 
tions because of the cunning of its adversaries. 
Moreover, some of the close adherents of the faith 
in literalism, who accepted its choice truths, worked 
against it, and its great array of argumenta- 
tive learning was swept aside; and many of its 
adherents lost their faith in consequence. The 
representatives of both these ruling faiths in 
literalism and symbolism were at heart antago- 
nistic to each other, yet they made a pretense of 
mutual regard and friendship. But this insin- 
cerity did not prosper, for the end of it was at the 
time appointed. From their intellectual conquests 
the representatives of this faith in symbolic inter- 
pretation then retired to their own province of 
symbolism with great added learning, and at 
heart they were hostile to the Christian religion; 
and they had their way, and retired to their own 
mental province. In due time these representa- 
tives of symbolism renewed the conflict against 
the spirit of literal interpretation in the Christian 
Church; but they were not so successful as before, 
for the peremptory arguments of strong-willed men 
of practical affairs were brought to bear against 
them. Therefore these representatives of symbolic 
interpretation were subdued, and retired to their 
own province of symbolism, and were incensed 
against the Christian religion, and had their way. 
14 



210 The Prophecies of Daniel 

They retired to their symbolizing, and planned 
to make use of the Christians who forsook the 
Christian religion. 

Then hostile arguments were advanced by the 
representatives of false symbolism, which pro- 
faned the fundamental truths of the Christian 
Church, took away the heartfelt worship of the 
Lord as God, and set up in the place of holy truths 
the self-intelligent theories that desolate and 
destroy the church. Such as acted contrary to 
the Christian religion these representatives ren- 
dered corrupt by flattering their self-love; but the 
true worshipers of the Lord stood firm against their 
paganistic learning, and were brave. The wiser 
ones among the Christians instructed many as to 
the true way ; yet the Christians were subverted by 
falsities and evils, and by the deprivation of truth 
and good, for a long while. Now when the faithful 
Christians were being so subverted, they received 
some help from the arguments of their own party ; 
but many who were pagan at heart united with 
them through plausible protestations. Some even 
of the wiser Christians then fell into temptation, 
that they might be refined and purified and freed 
from false ideas; and this state of affairs will 
continue until the end of the Christian Church, 
which will come at the time appointed. ' In the 
meantime the leading representatives of the spirit 
of symbolic interpretation had their way, and 
exalted and magnified themselves above every 
attribute of God, and uttered extraordinary im- 



Dissensions in the Church 211 

pieties against the Lord Himself; and they will 
prosper in the Christian Church until the evil 
state within it has run its full course, when the 
consummation of the Christian Church will be 
brought about. These leading representatives of 
symbolic interpretation have paid no regard to 
the Lord as formerly worshiped in the Christian 
Church, nor to the grief of the Christian Church 
at the loss of their early idea of Jesus as the son 
of God, nor have they really regarded any God; 
for they have magnified themselves above all. 
But instead they have honored the religious theo- 
ries constructed by their own self-intelligent 
arguments; and on a religious system which had 
no existence in any preceding phase of thought 
in the Christian Church, they have lavished a 
wealth of knowledge concerning good and true 
living and concerning spiritual and natural truths 
in general. These leading representatives of pagan- 
istic symbolism have assailed the most strongly in- 
trenched and fundamental truths of the Christian 
Church through the aid of their self -intelligence, of 
which they make a god ; whoever acknowledge their 
supremacy in the church they load with honors, and 
make them rule over the many, and they divide the 
government of the Christian Church among those 
who most potently support their views. 



THE END OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH 1 

THE Divine revelation made to Daniel continues 
without interruption from the twentieth 
verse of the tenth chapter to the fourth verse of 
the twelfth chapter; but history ceases and proph- 
ecy begins at the fortieth verse of the eleventh 
chapter. The predictions contained in the last 
six verses of the eleventh chapter have never been 
fulfilled, except in a very limited way by the death 
of Antiochus Epiphanes, nor can they ever be 
literally fulfilled now, as the circumstances which 
attended the predicted events have forever passed 
away. But their spiritual fulfillment, which was 
the fulfillment intended by the Divine Mind under 
Whose guidance the prophecies were written, is 
not only possible, but in fact is even now beginning. 
Let not the Christian Church deceive itself by 
thinking that, because it abounds in good works 
and charitable activities, the beginning of its end 
is not at hand; for the Lord foretold that good 
works would continue in the Christian Church 
until His second coming, whereas its faith, when 
the church had grown old, would be forced into 
unwelcome channels, and, no longer possessing 

1 Comprising Daniel xi., 40-xii., 13. 
212 



The End of the Christian Church 213 

the virility of its own beliefs, would receive the 
imprint of the false theories of others. This is 
meant by the Lord's words to Peter : 

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou 
wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst 
whither thou wouldest; but when thou shalt be 
old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and 
another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither 
thou wouldest not. . . . Peter therefore seeing 
the disciple whom Jesus loved following saith to 
Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus 
saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, 
what is that to thee? Follow thou me." 1 For 
Peter represents faith, and John good works. 2 Be- 
sides, Buddhists, Confucianists, Mohammedans, 
and the votaries of other pagan religions perform 
charitable works, but this fact does not make them 
Christians. Good works are only one of the ele- 
ments that constitute a truly Christian Church; 
and when such works are unconjoined, as is the 
case with a majority of Christians at the present 
day, with a belief in Jesus Christ as God and a 
faith in the Divine inspiration of the Bible, the end 
of the Christian Church has begun. The aged 
faith of the Christian Church is now stretching 
forth its feeble hands, and unchristian minds within 
its precincts are girding it with false ideas, and lead- 
ing it whither, in its vigorous manhood, it would 
not have gone. 

A few of the correspondences contained in the 

1 John xxi. f 18, 21, 22. 2 See Apocalypse Explained, 820b 7. 



2H The Prophecies of Daniel 

present chapter need some special explanation 
here. Edom signifies those who are in the love of 
good for its own sake, and who consequently are 
inclined to disregard truths of doctrine, and Moab 
and Ammon signify respectively the emotional 
and the intellectual members of the external 
church 1 ; all these will escape the influence of the 
spirit of false symbolism in the Christian Church, 
because they pay but little attention to high intel- 
lectualism like that of the representatives of sym- 
bolic interpretation, and have no interest in such 
interior 'theories. But these ext<ernal elements 
in the Christian Church probably will not escape 
the destructive influence of self -intelligence and 
self-exaltation ; for these countries were conquered 
in ancient times by the Babylonians under Nebu- 
chadnezzar, and this ancient conquest will prob- 
ably be psychologically repeated in the future 
when self-intelligence and self-exaltation become 
again the prominent features of the future Baby- 
lonianism of the Christian Church. But upon the 
emergence of the Christian Church from its future 
period of Babylonian rationalism and self -exalta- 
tion these external elements will probably become 
predominant in that church. Indeed, it is the 
Edom attitude of mind, which considers its own 
intelligence as all-sufficient to determine what 
is good and evil, and which despises revealed 
truths of doctrine drawn from the Word as entirely 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 3320, 3322, 8314; Apocalypse Explained, 
9225; Heavenly Arcana, 2468, 8315. 



The End of the Christian Church 215 

needless, that the Christian Church seems destined 
to fall into in its last stages of dissolution. It is 
the Lord's final judgment and consummation of 
the Christian Church in this world that are de- 
scribed in the well-known words of Isaiah: 

''Who is this that cometh from Edom, with 
dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious 
in his apparel, marching in the greatness of his 
strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty 
to save. Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, 
and thy garments like him that treadeth in the 
winevat? I have trodden the winepress alone, 
and of the peoples there was no man with me; 
yea, I trod them in mine anger, and trampled 
them in my wrath, and their lifeblood is sprinkled 
upon my garments, and I have stained all my 
raiment. For the day of vengeance was in my 
heart, and the year of my redeemed is come." 1 

After the complete devastation of its internal 
elements by self-intelligent reasonings and the 
application of the holy things of the church to self, 
the Christian Church will probably renounce doc- 
trinal discussions and interior rational thinking, 
and its clergy will make the complete acceptance 
of the self -intelligent doctrines already formulated 
by the beast out of the sea- a rigid test as to whether 
the members of the church are truly Christians 
and can be saved, and they will seek to convince 
their hearers of the truth of their false doctrines 
by strenuous asseveration and copious Scriptural 

1 lxiii, 1-4. 



216 The Prophecies of Daniel 

citations, threatening damnation to all those who 
do not acknowledge the doctrines of their faith as 
the holy truths of the church; for at this period 
will begin the rule in the Christian Church of the 
inward materialism denoted by the beast out of the 
earth, which is treated of in the thirteenth chapter 
of the Apocalypse. z Such rejection of the internal 
things of religion and worship will bring the future 
Christian Church into its final outward phase of 
perverted natural good represented by Edom, and 
of falsified literal truth represented by Ammon. 
This is evident from the following prophecies in 
regard to both Edom and Ammon, which will 
receive their true spiritual fulfillment at the time 
of the complete end of the Christian Church. 

''Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that 
dwellest in the land of Uz: 

The cup shall pass through unto thee also ; thou 
shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 

The punishment of thine iniquity is accom- 
plished, O daughter of Zion ; he will no more carry 
thee away into captivity : 

He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of 
Edom; he will uncover thy sins. " 2 

The rejection, through false ideas, of the doc- 
trine of the Lord's Divinity, which is the founda- 

1 See Swedenborg's explanations of the meaning of this beast 
and its activities, Apocalypse Revealed, 594-610, Apocalypse 
Explained, 815-847, and also my Phases of the Church Universal, 
pp. 87, 88. 

2 Lamentations iv., 21, 22. 



The End of the Christian Church 217 

tion and very breath of life of the Christian 
Church, is manifestly meant in verse twenty of 
the same chapter, which reads : 

"The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of 
Jehovah, was taken in their pits." 

In regard to Ammon, immediately after the 
prediction of the complete overthrow of Jerusalem 
and its ruler by Nebuchadnezzar, we read : 

"And thou, son of man, prophesy, and say, 
Thus saith the Lord Jehovah concerning the 
children of Ammon, and concerning their reproach ; 
and say thou, A sword, a sword is drawn, for the 
slaughter it is furbished, to cause it to devour, 
that it may be as lightning ; while they see for thee 
false visions, while they divine lies unto thee, to 
lay thee upon the necks of the wicked that are 
deadly wounded, whose day is come in the time 
of the iniquity of the end. Cause it to return into 
its sheath. In the place where thou wast created, 
in the land of thy birth, will I judge thee. And I 
will pour out mine indignation upon thee with the 
fire of my wrath; and I will deliver thee into the 
hand of brutish men, skillful to destroy. Thou 
shalt be for fuel to the fire ; thy blood shall be in the 
midst of the land; thou shalt be no more remem- 
bered: for I, Jehovah, have spoken it." 1 

1 Ezekiel xxi., 28-32. The same final descent of the future 
Christian Church into the lowest and most external perversions, 
when it will unite itself with the most external and sensuous views 
of the natural man and the spiritual insanities flowing therefrom, 
is described in Ezekiel xxiii., 4, 42-44. 



218 The Prophecies of Daniel 

Although the internal Christian Church Is to 
be brought to its end mainly through the reason- 
ings of self -intelligent rationalism represented by 
Babylon, nevertheless only that portion of the 
Christian Church which comes into the rational 
states of mind produced by the future Babylonian 
captivity of that church will become members 
of the New Church; for the incipient interest in 
New Church doctrines on the part of future Chris- 
tians is represented by Daniel, who was a captive 
at Babylon. The reason for this probably is that 
a special development of the rational faculties 
of the mind is necessary in order that Christians 
may be able to discard their former irrational 
and literalistic beliefs, arid may be prepared for 
the higher and more spiritual doctrines of the 
New Church. Christians of the Ammon and the 
Edom type, who persist in clinging to the mere 
literal sense of the Bible and to external ritualism, 
and who think that they have only to lead a good 
life according to their own ideas of what is good 
and that they need no doctrinal instruction, will 
be left behind in the march of Christian progress, 
and they and their beliefs will come to an end at 
the time of the final consummation of the Christian 
Church. The repudiation by the Lord of the 
Edom attitude of mind as a basis for His church, 
and the restoration of the destroyed internal 
church through the establishment of the New 
Church, are described in the thirty-fifth and 
thirty-sixth chapters of Ezekiel. 



The End of the Christian Church 219 

The time of trouble, referred to in xii. , I , which will 
arise in the Christian Church at its final break-up, 
will be the worst in the history of religion, because 
the Christian Church is in the possession of more 
interior truths than any preceding church has been, 
and hence its perversions of these truths will be 
attended with the more grievous consequences. x 

The period of twelve hundred and sixty days, 
during which the New Church is to remain in the 
wilderness of the few, and which is the same as the 
three years and a half and the time and times and 
half a time mentioned in the Apocalypse and 
Daniel, 2 extends over the entire era of intellectual 
perceptiveness through which the world is now 
passing, and which is likely to continue to about 
2150 a.d. The 1290 days spoken of in the eleventh 
verse of the twelfth chapter of Daniel is this same 
period of 1260 days with thirty days added, which 
addition includes the cognizant part of the era 
of emotional perceptiveness which is to follow the 
present era of intellectual perception, and in 
which will occur a recrudescence of the ancient 
religious remains stored up in the human mind 
during the time . of Daniel; for three signifies 
knowledge and also completeness, and the ten by 
which it is multiplied to make thirty signifies 
remains. This additional period of thirty days 
therefore includes the beginning of the future era of 
emotional perception, during which incipient por- 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 3755. 

2 Apocalypse Revealed, 491, 547, 562. 



220 The Prophecies of Daniel 

tion special attention will be given to the knowl- 
edge of the literal sense of the Bible, and during 
which the naturalistic self -intelligence that makes 
desolate the truths of the church, which took its 
rise in Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar, and spread 
through the succeeding eras, will again become 
prevalent in the desolated Christian Church. 

Forty-five days added to 1290 days make the 
1335 days mentioned in the twelfth verse. The 
number forty signifies temptations, and five much 1 ; 
therefore forty-five signifies a period of many 
temptations, and it evidently signifies the religious 
state of mind into which Christians who become 
members of the New Church will enter, when 
they will have many misgivings as to whether the 
doctrines of the New Church are really the truth 
or not; and happy will be the Newchurchman 
who continues in his regeneration and reaches the 
higher mental state, when all these doubts and mis- 
givings will pass away, and only a perfect confidence 
in the truth of New- Church doctrines will remain. 
This period also coincides with the time of trial and 
temptation for the religious world which will occur 
between the time of the overthrow of the mental 
Babylon in the Christian Church and the time of the 
establishment of the New Church on a large scale. 

Similar in meaning to the above-mentioned num- 
bers are the three hundred and ninety days that 
Ezekiel was commanded to lie on his left side and 
bear the sins of Israel as the intellectual church, and 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 5708, 9487. 



The End of the Christian Church 221 

the forty days that he was to lie on his right side and 
bear the sins of Judah as the emotional church. * 

The explanation of the Biblical text is now re- 
sumed. 

And at the time of the end of the Christian 
Church the ruling faith in the literal interpreta- 
tion of spiritual things will contend with the spirit 
of symbolism, and the ruling faith in symbolic 
interpretation will come against the literalists 
with quick, tempestuous inward thinking, and 
with doctrines of life and reasonings therefrom, 
and with many intellectual doctrines; and it will 
enter into many branches of the mind, and will 
inundate and pervert them by its falsities. It 
will enter also the Christian Church where the 
Word in its literal sense is held sacred, and many 
parts of the church will be overthrown ; but those 
in the Christian Church who are in the love of good 
for its own sake, and those who are in external 
good, and the most of those who are in external 
truth, will escape its destructive influence. The 
representatives of this spirit of false symbolism 
will extend their power over many mental facul- 
ties, and the literalizing knowledge of spiritual 
things will not escape; but they will appropriate 
for their own theories the amassed learning in 
regard to good and true living and all the precious 
truths belonging to the knowledge of spiritual 
things ; and those who gather outward and inward 
knowledge from the Bible will become their fol- 

1 Ezekiel iv., 4-6. 



222 The Prophecies of Daniel 

lowers. But tidings of the spread of New-Church 
teaching and doctrine 1 will trouble these repre- 
sentatives of false symbolism, who in great anger 
will undertake to destroy and to eradicate these 
ideas; and they will rely on their detailed and 
naturalistic learning to overthrow the doctrine 
of the Lord's Divinity as held in the New Church. 
Yet this ruling spirit of perverse symbolism must 
inevitably pass away from the Christian Church 
when its due course has been run. 

And at the time of the end of the Christian 
Church and the establishment of the New Church 
those Newchurchmen will become prominent who 
are in conjunction with the heavenly societies 
that excel in the perception of what is true, and 
protect the church on earth from falsities; and 
there will be a time of spiritual trouble such as 
has never occurred since there has been a church 
even to this same time. And at this time the 
people of the Christian Church who have believed 
in the Lord and led good lives will be delivered 
from the dominion of evil and false leaders. And 
attendant upon this religious awakening, many 
members of the Christian Church who have been 
living in a purely natural state of mind will come 
into a more interior state, which will result in 
higher spiritual life to the good, but deeper falsity 
and wickedness to the evil. And the minds of 
those who love and teach the truths of the New 

1 The north signifies knowledge or doctrine, and the east sig- 
nifies either conduct or expression, here expression or teaching. 



The End of the Christian Church 223 

Church will become lustrous with heavenly wisdom, 
and the minds of those who are in good and who 
lead others to good life will be luminous with the 
light of eternal spiritual verities. This revelation, 
though given in ancient times to the representative 
of the perceptive element of the true church, was 
not meant to be truly explained and understood 
until the time of the end of the Christian Church, 
although many have diligently studied the book 
of Daniel, and knowledge concerning it has been 
greatly increased. 

Then the representatives of the perceptive 
element of the New Church within the Christian 
Church will perceive that in the history of the 
New Church there have been two leading repre- 
sentatives, one the representative of the perception 
of revealed truth, and the other the representative 
of the perception of revealed good; and they will 
perceive that the representative of the perception 
of revealed truth, who had given reverent study 
to the subject, was enlightened by the righteous 
Lord, from Whom descend the waters of revealed 
New-Church doctrine, so that he saw it to be the 
very truth, as attested by the Word in its internal 
sense, that the New Church will be established on 
a large scale after the full devastation of the pres- 
ent Christian Church shall have taken place; and 
when the evils and falsities in the Christian Church 
shall have completed their destruction of the holy 
truths of the Word, all these prophecies will be 
fulfilled. 



224 The Prophecies of Daniel 

Although this prophecy was given to the per- 
ceptive element of the church in ancient times, 
it was not understood; and when this element 
desired to know the premonitory symptoms which 
would precede the fulfillment of the prophecies, 
it was declared that the revelation was not to be 
truly explained and understood until the time of 
the end of the Christian Church, when many 
Christians would purify themselves from evil and 
falsity, and become regenerated to a higher plane 
of life; but the wicked would do wickedly, and 
none of the wicked would understand the Lord's 
new revelation to His church, but wise Christians 
would then understand it. And from the state 
in the Christian Church when the heartfelt wor- 
ship of the Lord as divine is taken away, and the 
abominable self -intelligent theories of men are set 
up for veneration, there will be a complete period 
of perceptive intellectuality and literal knowledge. 
Blessed is he who continues in his regeneration, 
and comes through the following state of much 
temptation into the full and untroubled acceptance 
of the doctrines of the New Church. But the 
spirit of perceptive reception of the true religion, 
which existed in ancient times at the very beginning 
of the enslavement of the race by self -intelligence 
and self-exaltation, is to continue quiescent in the 
human mind until the time of the end of the Chris- 
tian Church, when it will again awaken and come 
into its own inheritance in the return of ancient 
religious states of mind in the church of the future. 



CONCLUSION 

THE spiritual interpretation of Daniel con- 
tained in the foregoing chapters has been 
applied to the states of the church as a whole; 
but the religious phases therein described can also 
be applied to the individual mind, and indeed their 
nature will be brought out more clearly by such ap- 
plication to the states of the individual. It is the 
experience of most Newchurchmen that shortly 
before coming into the New Church they pass 
through a psychological period of denial of the 
Lord's divinity, and sometimes of rejection of 
holy truths in general. Moreover, even when 
they come to a partial reception of New-Church 
doctrines, they at first submit them to a searching 
examination by their own self -intelligent rational- 
ity, and seem to themselves to find a number of 
flaws. These two religious states of mind of the 
individual are likewise described in Daniel by the 
actions of Antiochus Epiphanes and Nebuchad- 
nezzar, and they are what now confront the Chris- 
tian Church as a whole. The first individual state 
of denial of the Lord's Divinity and rejection of 
holy truths in general lies within the present 
is 225 



226 The Prophecies of Daniel 

world era of intellectual perceptiveness, when the 
Christian Church as a whole will deny the Lord's 
Divinity and reject the holy truths of the Bible; 
and the second individual state of self -intelligent 
rationality in regard to New-Church doctrines 
will characterize the beginning of the future era 
of emotional perceptiveness, during which the 
Christian Church will fall into the Babylonianism 
of self -intelligent rationality, and cause a great 
deal of destruction to New-Church truths. How- 
ever, in spite of this self -intelligent rationalizing 
in regard to the doctrines of the New Church, the 
incipient Newchurchman persists in the reception 
of its central truths, and this reception of the 
truth under the dominance of self-intelligent 
rationalism is the spirit represented by Daniel, 
who held fast to the true religion although in 
captivity to Babylonian masters. Again, the 
usual experience of the individual Newchurchman 
is that, after passing through these initial phases 
of rejection of spiritual truths and erection of a 
self -intelligent rationalism in which he is somewhat 
interested in New-Church doctrines, he comes 
into a further religious state in which he loses 
his interest in New-Church thought, and emerges 
from his self -intelligent rationalism; and this 
state is followed by still another religious state 
in which he again takes up New-Church doctrines, 
accepts them finally, and remains in them per- 
manently. Inasmuch as Nebuchadnezzar repre- 
sents the rationalistic state of self-intelligence 



Conclusion 227 

into which the Jewish church fell in ancient times, 
and into which the Christian Church will ultimately 
come, the prior states of the church before it was 
cursed by the destructive influence of naturalistic 
self-intelligence are represented by the Jewish kings 
who ruled before the time of Nebuchadnezzar. The 
religious state of the typical Newchurchman, 
after passing through the state of self-intelligent 
rationalism, is represented by the kings of Judah 
who ruled from the death of Hezekiah to the time 
of Nebuchadnezzar. During this ancient period 
there was a swift decline from the higher and more 
spiritual era of Hezekiah, which even the reforms 
of king Josiah were unable to do more than tem- 
porarily and superficially arrest. This period, 
when the Jewish religion was at a low ebb and 
when perverse literalism was rampant, may be 
called the hiatus period in the individual New- 
churchman's return progress, when he loses inter- 
est in New-Church doctrines, after completing 
his rationalistic self -intelligence period, and before 
coming into definite and permanent acceptance 
of the New Church. This hiatus period, for the 
church as a whole, will probably be a time of great 
disturbance and confusion in the religious world, 
because the old Christian Church will then have 
been largely overthrown, and because the time 
for the establishment of the New Church among 
many adherents will not yet have fully arrived. 
Probably the period is identical with the "time 
of trouble" spoken of in the twelfth chapter of 



22S The Prophecies of Daniel 

Daniel, when the old order has been largely de- 
stroyed and the new order is not yet definitely 
established. This period of upsetting and con- 
fusion, when the perverse leaders of the Christian 
Church will be "deadly wounded" by false and 
corrupt doctrines, and when the whole church will 
be tottering to its fall, seems to be portrayed in 
the following verses of Ezekiel, which are applica- 
ble to the downfall of the future Christian Church 
as well as to the destruction of Jerusalem and its 
king in ancient times: 

"Thou, O deadly wounded wicked one, the 
prince of Israel, whose day is come, in the time of 
the iniquity of the end, thus saith the Lord Jeho- 
vah: Remove the miter, and take off the crown; 
this shall be no more the same ; exalt that which is 
low, and abase that which is high. I will overturn, 
overturn, overturn it. This also shall be no more, 
until he come whose right it is; and I will give it 
him." 1 The definite acceptance of the New 
Church as a Divine revelation is represented by 
King Hezekiah, and the importance of his period 
in the future evolution of the New Church is 
perhaps the reason why a lengthy description 
of some of the events of his reign is inserted in 
Isaiah from the book of Kings. It is remark- 
able, too, that in his prayer to Jehovah after his 
receipt of the letter from Sennacherib's general 
demanding the surrender of Jerusalem, Hezekiah 
gave expression to the central doctrine of the New 
1 xxi., 25-27. 



Conclusion 229 

Church, which is the acknowledgment of the 
Lord's sole Divinity; for his prayer began with 
the words : 

"O Jehovah of hosts, God of Israel, that sittest 
above the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou 
alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth." 1 The 
time of the return of the ancient religious states 
prevalent during the reign of Hezekiah is therefore 
the time when the New Church will begin to 
grow in large numbers as a separate organization. 
Hezekiah was a good king, and he claimed that he 
had walked before Jehovah in truth; but he was 
preceded by many Jewish kings who did what 
was evil in the sight of the Lord, and is the New 
Church in its future career going to fall likewise 
into their evil ways? By no means; there is 
provision made by the Lord against this con- 
tingency. We read in Isaiah of the Persian king 
Cyrus, whom Jehovah raised up to rule over 
the nations, that he should pass on safely, even 
by a way that he had not gone with his feet. 2 
Cyrus as king of Persia represented the power of 
imaginative thought to rise above the externalism 
of the senses and self -intelligence ; and it is this 
Cyrus faculty, taken out of its regular place in the 
evolution of the human mind, which is meant by 
"passing on by a way that he had not gone with 
his feet," that is destined to be the permanent 
foundation upon which the acceptance of New- 
Church doctrines by the race in general is to be 

1 Isaiah xxxvii., 16. 2 xli., 2, 3; also xlv., 1-7. 



230 The Prophecies of Daniel 

erected. It is for such a spirit that the Lord will 
lead the way and make the rough places smooth, 
and to which he will give the treasures of dark- 
ness and the hidden riches of the secret places. 
But it will be a difficult task to form such a 
deep and receptive spirit in the regenerating 
Newchurchman ; for the spirit that Cyrus, as 
the foundation of the mental condition that 
will accept the New Church, represents, exists 
after all only in the interior natural part of the 
mind, and the writings of the New Church are 
nearly rjure truth, formulated by a celestially 
regenerated mind, and therefore in their essence 
high above the range of the natural mind, however 
lofty its thought. The difficulty the Lord experi- 
ences in establishing the New Church in the indi- 
vidual at this stage of his regeneration seems to 
be described in the following words: 

"I have long time holden my peace; I have 
been still, I have refrained myself: now will I 
cry out like a travailing woman; I will gasp and 
pant together." 1 

The books of Amos, Micah, and Hosea, written 
during or shortly before the reign of Hezekiah, 
king of Judah, upon the recrudescence of which 
ancient time the New Church will begin on a large 
scale, describe, in their application to the future 
Christian Church, the religious evils and falsities 
peculiar to this period, when the purified remnant 
of the Christian Church who are in good life and 

1 Isaiah xlii., 14. 



Conclusion 231 

who are willing to receive the Lord in His new 
revelation will come into the New Church, and 
when the remainder of that church who refuse to 
accept the truths of the New Church will sink 
lower and lower into the religious externalism 
and the falsifying naturalism of the unregenerate 
natural man, until they are summoned to prepare 
to meet the God of judgment, and their church 
is brought to its final consummation. Their 
church will be ' 'overthrown," because there will 
be "no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God" 
among them, because they will have "left off 
taking heed to Jehovah," because their "wounds 
will be incurable," and because they will be "a 
people that does not understand." 

Although the book of Daniel is largely history 
in the form of prophecy, it should probably be 
regarded as a prophetical book; and therefore, 
under the principle enunciated in the Introduction, x 
it should be considered as destined to have a future 
fulfillment in all its details. Nevertheless it may 
be that the strong historical element of the book 
may exert some influence in the direction of only 
a general fulfillment, and render it possible that 
some of the lesser details of the book may not have 
an exact fulfillment in the phases of life and thought 
that will arise in the Christian Church, for mod- 
ern religious phases may not be exactly the same 
as their ancient counterparts; but it is certain that 
at least in its general outlines and its main features 

1 Pp. 5, 6. 



232 The Prophecies of Daniel 

the book of Daniel is destined to have a complete 
fulfillment, because similar predictions are con- 
tained in the prophetical books of the Old Testa- 
ment, in the Apocalypse, and in the chapters of 
Matthew, Mark, and Luke pertaining to the end 
of the Christian Church. 1 The Messianic reign 
of goodness and truth which the old Hebrew pro- 
phets so vividly portrayed as beginning directly 
after the overthrow of the heathen powers, espe- 
cially the power of Babylon, will begin only at 
the establishment of the New Church after the 
downfall of the Christian Church and of the pagan 
evils and falsities which hold sway within it; and 
hence numerous prophecies of this nature in the 
Old Testament are still in the future with regard 
to their fulfillment, and the foregoing explanation 
of Daniel gives the key to the true interpretation 
of these prophecies. It is moreover plainly taught 
in the Old Testament that the Christians of the 
future are to be rescued from the power of their 
pagan spiritual enemies when the Christian Church 
is under the sway of Babylonian self-exaltation, 
for it is written : 

"In Babylon shalt thou be rescued, there will 
Jehovah redeem thee from the hand of thine 
enemies." 2 

And at that future time, probably not more than 
two or three centuries distant, will be heard "the 
voice of them that flee and escape out of the land 



1 Matthew xxiv. ; Mark xiii. ; Luke xxi., 5-36. 

2 Micah iv., 10. 



Conclusion 233 

of Babylon, to declare in Zion the vengeance of 
Jehovah our God, and the vengeance of His 
temple." 1 These and similar prophecies of the 
Old Testament had no adequate fulfillment in 
the historical return of the Jews from Babylon, 
nor in the experience of the church since then; 
and hence the time of their complete fulfillment, 
when Christians as the logical religious successors 
of the Jews will be delivered from the power of 
self -exalting and self -intelligent leaders and their 
pagan ideas, is still in the future. 

The present tendency of the world to cast of! 
the restraints of mere authority and effete dogma, 
and to assert the rights of the individual mind to 
perceive for itself, is the exact opposite of a similar 
movement in the latter part of the first century 
B.C., when the intellectual perceptiveness which 
demanded ideas satisfying to the individual mind 
was abandoned, and a trend of thought adopted 
which sought to prove the validity of truth by 
appeal to sources which had been established as 
authoritative. 2 So far as the natural side of 
things is concerned, this present movement is 
entirely proper, as there is no reason why the 
world should be bound by the ideas and traditions 
of former generations of men who lived on a lower 
plane of development; but to throw off all belief 
in the authority of the Bible as the final standard 
and test of religious truth, which is the present 

1 Jeremiah i., 28. 

2 Windelband, History of Philosophy, pp. 219-221. 



234 The Prophecies of Daniel 

tendency in the Christian Church, is to invite a 
very insanity of self -intelligent fictions on religious 
subjects. 

As shown elsewhere, the present era of intellec- 
tual perceptiveness or perception of what is true 
is the same era as that denoted by the beast out 
of the sea, spoken of in the thirteenth chapter of 
the Apocalypse. Swedenborg states that the 
beast out of the sea means "the truth of the church 
falsified by outward knowledges, which are from 
the world," and that the beast out of the earth 
means "the truth of the church falsified by the 
literal sense of the Word applied to favor the 
evils of self-love and the love of the world." 1 
This indicates that the false attacks on the truths 
of the Bible during the present era will be made 
chiefly on scientific, historical, and philosophic 
grounds; but that in the more emotional era 
following the Bible itself will be used to uphold 
the evils and to confirm the falsities of the corrupt 
leaders of future Christianity. False prophetism 
was rampant in the parallel ancient era of percep- 
tive emotionality, and the beast out of the earth 
is also called the false prophet in the Apocalypse; 
and its followers will be the false prophets of the 
future when they make predictions, confirmed by 
copious Biblical quotations, that Christians who 
leave the old Christian Church to become members 
of the New Church, are going the sure way to 
destruction. 

1 Heavenly Arcana, 102 17. 



Conclusion 235 

As it is declared in the book of Daniel that its 
true meaning would not be made known until the 
time of the end of the Christian Church, the be- 
ginning of which is now at hand, it is desirable 
to examine to what extent, if any, the prophecies 
contained in Daniel are being fulfilled within the 
Christian Church at the present time. The 
spiritual upheaval referred to earlier in this vol- 
ume, 1 has already begun in the present transfer- 
ence of the center of theological emphasis from 
heaven to earth and from God to man, and in the 
seeking of strange gods through the deification of 
aggregate human consciousness. Moreover, the 
increasing denial of the virgin birth, involving a 
denial of the Lord's Divinity, as well as an inherent 
lack in the religious thought of the times of an 
ability to identify Jesus Christ with God, makes it 
evident that the armies of unbelief are attacking 
the central and fundamental doctrine of the Chris- 
tian Church, a condition which the Lord foretold 
would be the sign of the beginning of its desola- 
tion 2 ; and now that the consummation of the 
Christian Church has begun, the course of its dev- 
astation will not "be stayed until every vital truth 
in its possession has been falsified, and every spiri- 
tual good of the Bible has been adulterated, when 
its doom will be complete. The most prominent 
figure in the later chapters of the book of Daniel 
is that of Antiochus Epiphanes, who stands for the 
spirit of pagan culture and symbolism antagonistic 

1 P. 9. a Luke xxi., 20; see above, pp. 10, 11. 



236 The Prophecies of Daniel 

to the true religion ; does there exist in the Christian 
Church of to-day any spirit antagonistic to the truth 
similar to this perverse spirit of ancient times ? One 
of the most noteworthy signs of the times in the 
Christian Church is the book entitled The New The- 
ology, hy R. J. Campbell, who acts as the spokesman 
for a tendency in theology which is well-nigh univer- 
sal. * This book is an effective protest against the 
arbitrary and irrational doctrines current in the 
theology of the Christian Church, and marks a new 
epoch in the history of Christianity when it will 
either have to make such doctrines consistent with 
reason and common sense or else see them at- 
tacked and rejected by Christians in general. 
The author of this book grapples with many of 
the deeper problems of religion, sometimes with 
a great deal of perception of the truth ; but on the 
other hand, because he attempts to explain spiri- 
tual things by mere self-intelligent thinking, 
which is utterly incapable of ascertaining spiritual 
truth unaided by revelation, he jumbles truth 
and falsity together in a most bewildering fashion. 

1 The tendency, namely, to discard the old orthodox ideas, to 
deny the Divine inspiration of the Bible, and to reject the Divin- 
ity of Jesus Christ. The doctrines of The New Theology as a 
whole are not universally accepted in the Christian Church, even 
among its younger element; but as in ancient times the spirit of 
perverse intellectualism represented by Antiochus Epiphanes ob- 
tained the rule by cunning and by flatteries, although having at 
first only a small following (Daniel xi., 21, 23), so these doctrines 
need not be universally accepted in the Christian Church of to- 
day in order that the originators of such doctrines may later on 
gain the ascendancy. 



Conclusion 237 

Even the plain statements of the Bible containing 
God's own teachings are cast aside; and as a 
result, although many of the crude errors and gross 
misconceptions of former Christianity are dis- 
proved, much worse and more fatal errors are 
fallen into, errors in fact which if adopted must 
bring the Christian Church to its end, because they 
involve a virtual rejection of the acknowledgment 
of the Lord's Divinity upon which the Christian 
Church was founded, and of the Divine inspira- 
tion of the Scriptures from which it draws its 
life. Therefore, although this book on its critical 
side is useful in destroying a number of irrational 
ideas in current Christian theology, and thus 
clearing the way for higher conceptions, its con- 
structive side is fundamentally false; and, in 
spite of occasional expressions of great philosophic 
and religious truths, its theories pervert and de- 
stroy the central and vital spiritual truths of 
Christianity, and leave only a paganism in their 
wake. Such perversion of the great truths of the 
Bible and the church is disguised by subtle dis- 
tinctions, so that the deep falsities do not so plainly 
appear. The book is also valuable in that, al- 
though many other forms of the New Theology 
will doubtless arise, it gives us a good general idea 
of the kind of falsities which will reign in the 
Christian Church until the time of its end. Upon 
receivers of New-Church doctrines the self-intel- 
ligent theories propounded in this book have little 
or no influence, because their falsity is easily seen ; 



238 The Prophecies of Daniel 

but the Christian Church as at present constituted 
has no clear rational and consistent teachings 
such as the New Church possesses, and in conse- 
quence it will be unable to withstand such critical 
and subtle attacks upon its doctrines. The only- 
theology that does away with the errors of present 
Christianity, and at the same time is in full accord 
with reason and common sense, is the theology of 
the New Church; and as it is only by accepting 
this theology that Christians can escape from the 
oppressive bondage of such false theories, it is in- 
evitable that the next upward step of the Chris- 
tians who leave their moribund church will bring 
them to the acceptance of New-Church truths. 
The points of resemblance in the teachings of The 
New Theology to the spirit denoted by Antiochus 
Epiphanes are many, and moreover some of its 
theories are admittedly a recrudescence of ante- 
Christian thought, 1 thus confirming the view 
presented in the present volume that there exists 
a return of ancient phases of thought in the teach- 
ings of to-day. It was Antiochus Epiphanes, the 
prototype of the antichrist, who took away the 
continual burnt offering of the Jews, and set up 
the abomination of desolation in the holy place, 
events which for the Christian Church mean the 
rejection of the heartfelt worship of Jesus Christ 
as God, and the erection of the self-intelligent 
theories of man in the place of the holy truths of 
the Bible ; and in The New Theology the idea of the 

1 The New Theology, pp. 22, 43. 



Conclusion 239 

Divinity of Jesus Christ as essentially different 
from the nature of man is denied, 1 the Divine 
inspiration of the Bible is rejected, and the indi- 
vidual mind, with its self-intelligent theories, is 
set up as the source of authoritative revelation 
and the arbiter of spiritual truth. 2 The perverse 
spirit denoted by Antiochus Epiphanes is repre- 
sented in Daniel as exalting itself over God; and 
in The New Theology man is lifted up to equality 
with God by being made a part of Him, 3 and is 
even exalted above Him, in that the individual 
mind is exalted above the Word of God Himself 
as the source of revelation. Antiochus Epiphanes 
as king of Syria represents faith in self-intelligent 
symbolism, and his effort to destroy the Jewish 
religion denotes the perversion of the truths of 
the Bible and church by self -intelligent symbolic 
interpretations; and in The New Theology sym- 
bolism is one of the marked features, 4 yet this 
same symbolism, while true in some of its applica- 
tions, is nevertheless employed to pervert and 
destroy the literal sense of the Bible, when the 
great fact of the virgin birth of Jesus, belief in 
which is absolutely necessary to an acknowl- 
edgment of His Divinity, is turned into mere 
symbolic ideas, and denied to have any actual exist- 
ence. s These points of resemblance in all essential 

1 Idem, pp. 76-83, 92, 95, 100-102, 207, 208. 

2 Idem, pp. 174, 175, 178-184, 198, 199. 

3 Idem, pp. 31, 34, 35, 211, 212. 

* Idem, pp. 73, 101, 223-225, 254, 255. 
s Idem, pp. 103, 104. 



240 The Prophecies of Daniel 

features, and other resemblances could be given, 
show clearly enough that the prophecies of Daniel 
as interpreted in the foregoing pages are already 
being realized in the Christian Church; and al- 
though the teachings of The New Theology are 
not yet generally accepted in Christendom, they 
undoubtedly will be as soon as the older genera- 
tion of Christians has passed away. At any rate 
it is evident that they will be accepted to the 
extent of causing a general denial of the Lord's 
Divinity and the plenary inspiration of His Word. 
In fact, there is already noticeable among the 
progressive leaders in the Protestant Church of 
to-day a strong tendency to minimize the impor- 
tance of these essential doctrines of the Christian 
Church, even if they are not openly and definitely 
rejected. 1 A more recent book along the same 
lines as The New Theology, and perhaps even more 
radical in tone, is The New Orthodoxy, by Edward 
Scribner Ames. The author of this book rejects 
the Divinity of Jesus Christ, asserting that al- 
though "his words remain ' unique and vital in 
religion, " it is only "as those of Shakespeare do in 
literature or of Plato in philosophy. " He declares 
that the infallibility of the Bible is "no longer a 
tenable idea," and that there is now "no legiti- 
mate authority except that of man's own expe- 
rience. " He says that the "love of man toward 
man is cherished for no other reason than that it 

1 See A Guide to the Study of the Christian Religion, Gerald B. 
Smith, Editor, pp. 529, 530, 550, 552, 553. 



Conclusion 241 

seems the only natural and human attitude." 
And he states that ' ' God is found in the associated 
life of men, especially when that life is aspiring 
and productive. . . . Each state has an indi- 
viduality and every nation is personified through 
a definite face and figure; is it not just as natural 
to sum up the meaning of the whole of life in the 
person and image of God? ... As to the Bible 
being the Word of God, that is impossible, unless 
God is conceived of as the sum total of the world's 
religious experience." Nor are these religious 
signs of the times confined to the Protestant 
Church alone. The so-called Modernism in the 
Roman Catholic Church is almost an exact 
counterpart of the New Theology movement in 
the Protestant Church; for while Modernism 
seeks to free the Roman Catholic Church from 
the trammels of a blind faith and mere ecclesias- 
tical dogma, it rejects the Divinity of the Lord, and 
substitutes for the revealed truths of the Bible 
the self -intelligent ideas of the individual mind. 

The present era that lies before the Christian 
Church is not going to be merely destructive of 
old beliefs, on the contrary it is going to be very 
constructive of new ideas, because this era will 
be prolific in the perception of what is true, and 
also of what is false, on the natural plane. During 
the present era many persons will endeavor to 
solve religious problems by their own self-intel- 
ligent thinking unaided by Divine revelation, and 
consequently all kinds of self-intelligent theories 



242 The Prophecies of Daniel 

will be originated, nearly all of which will be based 
upon mere naturalistic appearances, and conse- 
quently will be partly or wholly false ; and these false 
views will in turn be adopted by many Christians, 
and will be united and re-united with similar ideas, 
until this whole structure of false teaching is swept 
away by the very weight of the accumulated mass 
of multiplied self -intelligent theories. Then will 
come to pass the state of the Christian Church 
which was predicted by the Lord in the words: 

"As were the days of Noah, so shall be the 
coming of the Son of Man; for as in those days 
which were before the flood they were eating and 
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until 
the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they 
knew not until the flood came and took them all 
away, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man." 1 

How much the New Church will have to bear 
of this attack upon the holy truths of the Bible is 
uncertain; and it is remarkable that the thirteenth 
chapter of the Apocalypse, which in its spiritual 
application extends over the whole course of the 
New Church for the next four or five centuries, 
seems to deal only with the falsities and evils 
within the Christian Church during that time, 
whereas the rest of the Apocalypse treats almost 
exclusively of the states of the New Church. 2 In 

1 Matthew xxiv., 37-39. 

3 The probable reason for this is that the states of the New 
Church during much of this period are so fully treated of in the 
prophetic books of the Old Testament that a detailed mention of 
them in the thirteenth chapter of the Apocalypse is unnecessary. 



Conclusion 243 

a passage in Luke reading, " Jerusalem shall be 
trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of 
the Gentiles be fulfilled," * the reference is certainly 
to the Christian Church; but in a very similar 
passage in the Apocalypse, 2 Jerusalem is explained 
by Swedenborg as meaning the New Church, 3 
and if his interpretation holds good in the present 
connection it seems likely that some kind of an 
attack will be made on New-Church theology. 
At any rate the two principal doctrines of the 
New Church, the Lord's Divinity and the necessity 
of a life according to the ten commandments as 
Divine laws and not merely as standards of an 
ethical morality, are going to be rejected by the 
Christian Church, as well as the works of the 
principal writers of the New Church who have 
made true predictions in regard to the end of the 
present Christian Church. 4 But however this 
may be, the last stage between present Christian- 
ity and the at least partial reception of the New 
Church has arrived, and although this stage may 
last for still two centuries or more, and may witness 
grievous perversions of the truth in the Christian 
Church, it is nevertheless the last interval that 
separates the old from the new, and it will be in 
part at least a stage of preparation for the New 
Church through the destruction of old ideas and 
beliefs which hinder its reception. 

In a passage of Isaiah in reply to the query, 

1 xxi., 24. 3 xi., 2. 3 Apocalypse Revealed, 489. 

* See Phases of the Church Universal, pp. 57, 58. 



244 The Prophecies of Daniel 

"Watchman, what of the night?" the answer is 
made, "The morning cometh, and also the night." 1 
The morning of enlightenment and good deeds 
has come to the Christian Church as a result of 
the new revelation made to mankind through 
Swedenborg and the putting in order of the spiri- 
tual world at that time, and the night of desolation 
and destruction is now at hand for the Christian 
Church; but beyond this night lies a still fairer 
day, a day whose sun will never set upon the 
church in this world, a day when false and evil 
leaders will be discredited forever, and when the 
most glorious of all the churches, now forlornly 
struggling on among a few adherents, will renounce 
its paths of obscurity and fill the whole earth 
with the splendor of its accepted truth. 

*xxi., II, 12. 



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